Sailor Moon: Incantation
by Andras-Nocturno
Summary: Part 2 of "Tales of Water and Fire" - On the eve of a three day weekend in which the Sailor Soldiers would go on a trip to the beach, Chibiusa returns to the present, surprising everyone saying she wants to joy them. At the same time, witches appear in Juuban, and their target is Sailor Moon and her fellow soldiers.
1. 01 - Traveller in Time

**Sailor Moon: Incantation**

 **01 – Traveller in Time**

Books were scattered all across the center table of Ami's bedroom. Empty cups of coffee were carefully placed to the side of the table as to not get in the way of the two youngsters studying. The girl crammed content non-stop while the boy who was also studying in her room seemed to be making a summary of the topics he had studied earlier. It was late in the night, but the couple wouldn't stop until they finished all the work they had to do.

After a few more minutes the boy stood up, stretching his arms in a lazy manner, making a faint satisfied noise. The girl smiled while she watched him lie down next to her, and gently cuddled his hair. "Maybe we should stop for today, Andrus!" Ami spoke softly, seeing a smirk growing on the boy's face.

"I'm actually already done with my report." That information really caught her by surprise as she thought it would take much more effort for him to finish it. "I was just going over the topics that gave me a hard time earlier..." He sighed. "...but I'm really, really bored!"

She closed the book she was reading, lying next to the boy. "I'm really proud of you!" She blushed as his arms entranced her. The physical contact between the two had become more normal since they started dating. "I'm sure you'll ace tomorrow's test!"

"The only thing more certain than that is death, Ami-chan! Don't worry!"

"Way to ruin the mood, fireball!"

"I'm sorry!" He laughed, leaning his head on hers. The closeness between the two was something anew to Ami, but she couldn't deny her enjoyment out of it. "Would it make it better if I recognized that none of this would be possible without my beautiful girlfriend who took her precious time to teach me all I needed for tomorrow's test?"

"It helps!" She spoke in a blissful tone that she failed to hide. It still amused her to no end whenever he called her that way. "Oh god!" She took a peek at the clock by her bedside, realizing that it was way over midnight. "It's so late! We must have lost track of time!"

"Y...Yeah!" Flustered, the boy blushed while talking. "That can be the only explanation! I surely didn't stall so we could spend a little more time together!"

"How could I have fallen for such a silly boy?" Ami smiled, standing up.

"I don't tend to question, as you might come to your senses and ditch me!" He stood next to her, holding her close to him. There was a moment of silence, denoting his hesitation. "I...I'd like to spend the night with you!" She stared at him in disbelief, her face blushed in a violent red, in a tone very similar to the one on her boyfriend's complexion. It was clear that he didn't mean that he only wanted to sleep in her company. "But only if you're ready!" He added in a flustered haste, making sure there would be no other interpretation. They had been dating for almost two months and loved one another immensely. She thought about it herself as their relationship developed, but his words still managed to get her by surprise. Maybe she should have expected that from him, but she was still often caught off-guard by the forwardness of her boyfriend. A cold sweat went across her forehead, unnoticed by the young man. She sighed, knowing that the longer she took to answer him, the worse it would seem.

"And what do we tell my mother in the morning?" She got a hold of herself, softly laughing at the light dismay on the boy's face. "We'll spend three whole days together in this long weekend, Andrus! Don't worry!" She pulled him closer, kissing the boy who could only smile.

"You're right!" He held her hands close to his chest. She could feel his heartbeats and they were as fast as hers. "You're always right!" She would think about him later that night, she would feel proud of herself for handling that situation in what it appeared to be the best way. They were both new and had little experience in that kind of relationship, so it was a steep learning process for the two of them, but it seemed they were making the most out of it.

They kissed once more and the boy left for the kendo dojo he called his home. Ami watched the boy through her bedroom window, and they would wave at each other once more. A purple light appeared briefly in the sky, startling the girl. It somehow felt familiar for Ami. A second light followed right after and the blue haired girl felt a dreadfulness lurking about. She reached for her cellphone, trying to call her boyfriend, and a muffled heavy metal tune rang right next to her. "Typical..." She snapped her tongue as she thought about how careless Andrus could be while picking his phone from under her pillow. She hoped her instincts were wrong, sleeping an uneasy night.

The next evening, Ami would go to the Juuban High School where the recovery exams would be held. She didn't need to go through an exam, as she always had perfect scores, but Andrus, Usagi, and Minako would have to take the test before they could travel, and Ami was there to cheer for them. She waited outside for a while until she noticed someone else approaching, someone she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Chibiusa!" The blue soldier said with a smile across her features. The pink haired girl with a hairstyle that reminded of Usagi greeted Ami with a tight hug. Ami thought about that once lonely child that came from the future to save her family and became really attached to her and the other girls. It had been a while since her last visit, and now Ami remembered about the flash of light she saw the other night. "So yesterday it was you, after all!"

"Yes!" The girl spoke with a large grin. "I really missed you, Ami-chan!"

"And what do we owe the honor of your visit?" Ami asked, crouching as to speak on the same level as Chibiusa. The blue haired girl never knew, but that always made the child feel respected.

"Oh, I found an old diary a few days ago." She reminisced about the dull days she was having in the Crystal Palace, her home in the future. She was eager for a new adventure, or even any mere reason to return to the past and see her friends. Going through some boxes she found that pink covered notebook. "It had a lot of pages torn apart and even burned down, but from the pages I could savage I read about a trip you'll be going this weekend, and Usagi said it was one of the best holidays you girls ever had!" The small girl frowned as if she was being left behind. "So I came to be a part of it!"

Ami covered her mouth and laughed discretely. Chibiusa always displayed the same tenacity that was very common to Usagi. They were mother and daughter, after all. "I'm impressed you could figure out Usagi's handwriting, and even more impressed you managed to pinpoint the trip to this very day!"

"I'm full of resources, Ami-chan!" They both laughed. "And you and Rei helped me a lot to figure it out! Well, future you and future Rei, I mean!" Chibiusa gazed upon the school, wondering for a few seconds why would Ami be expecting outside, figuring it out after a little while. "Usagi had to take a recover exam again, huh?"

"Minako-chan had to as well, and..." When Ami was about to conclude, Usagi and Minako appeared by the front door of the building with defeated looks on their faces. Chibiusa was about to tease them but halted when they saw Andrus right behind them. She froze immediately, which went unnoticed by the other girls.

"Piece of cake, Ami-chan!" He bragged while showing the 78 marked next to his name. "You really helped me a lot the other night...and who is this?" Andrus crouched right next to the pink haired girl hiding behind Ami.

"That's Chibiusa!" Usagi said, unable to understand the shyness her future daughter seemed to display. "My...little sister." Usagi didn't know if she should tell Andrus about their future adventures, even though he already knew about their identities as Sailor Soldiers.

"Hello, Chibiusa-chan! My name is Andrus Homura!" He smiled, extending his hand in her direction. Chibiusa stared at him for a long time, bowing down her head and shaking hands with the boy.

"N...Nice to meet you!"

"So, you seem to be friends with the lovely Ami-chan!" He tried to be friendly, thinking that it could make her feel more comfortable. "Any friend of hers is also a friend of mine!"

"Usagi!" Chibiusa rose her head to the blonde, with a determined look on her face. "I want to go on this trip with you!" Those words caught Minako, Usagi, and Andrus by surprise.

"What?!" Usagi spoke, shocked. "This is no trip for little kids! Only us young adults can go! After all, this is the perfect chance for romance!" Ami and Andrus exchanged flustered stares with those words, laughing as a way to try to hide their embarrassment. "Mamo-chan and I have been waiting for this trip for a really long time!"

"First of all," Chibiusa spoke in a demeaning tone. "You are far from being a young adult, farther yet from being an adult at all. Second, you can't leave me behind for three whole days, can you? I can easily convince mom Ikuko to make you take me with you, but I'd prefer we could solve this right away so I can go home and pack my things!"

Andrus laughed out loud, covering his stomach. "Well, it seems your little sister is the one who'll deal the cards, Usagi!" He placed his hand on Chibiusa's shoulder, with a large grin on his face. "I say we take her with us!"

"I agree!" Ami put her hand on the little girl's other shoulder. "You'll always be welcome to come with us, Chibiusa!"

"Ami-chan, you traitor!" Usagi revolted, intending to storm off. Andrus stood up and reached for his friend.

"Come on, Usagi!" He said. "Don't be like that!" It felt hopeless, as she appeared to be very angry. At that point, Andrus had mastered a technique to calm down his friend with the _odango_ shaped hair. "How about I get us some ice cream and cakes so we can celebrate our victory on the tests, and tomorrow we'll go to the beach! It will be awesome!"

"Why should I listen to you?" Usagi said, still annoyed. "You are the one who _stole_ Ami-chan from us and made us study without almost none of her help! Minako and I barely made it!"

They watched the girl sobbing, something they have gotten used to until she looked at Andrus. She seemed a little upset, to which he had a plan. "Anything you want." He added. "And all you can eat! I'll handle the check!"

"Andrus..." Usagi bowed down her head as if she was offended. She stood in front of him and held his hands. Her gleaming eyes and trembling lips showed that his strategy worked. "You are a good friend!" She picked her phone and started calling Makoto and Rei, so they all could celebrate.

"Are you sure about this?" A concerned Ami reached for her boyfriend. "She will test the boundaries of 'all you can eat'." The boy laughed, picking Chibiusa up and carrying her on his shoulders, much to the surprise of the little girl.

"It will all be fine! Won't it, Chibiusa?"

She smiled, raising a fist. "It sure will now that I'm here!" They both laughed, leading the group to the coffee shop. Ami wondered why Chibiusa was so shy around Andrus since she never seemed one to be unsociable, and how he was able to break her shyness so quickly. Her mind ran through a lot of alternatives, none particularly good.

Taking a final look back at the school, Ami saw a female student staring at them. Her eyes blazed in an intimidating fashion, making the blue haired girl halt and stare back. She could hear an unknown voice in her mind. The words forming slowly. "He is not what he seems to be." Ami's body trembled uncontrolled in fear.

Ami turned around, meaning to catch up with her friends, and now the girl was right in front of her. Pitch black short hair and pitch black eyes, and a sullen expression upon her face. "He is dangerous!" The girl now spoke clearly.

"Who are you?" Ami cried. "Are you talking about Andrus?"

"He is not what he seems to be!" The voice echoed in her mind for a while, until she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was like snapping out of a dream. She looked at Andrus, both startled for different reasons.

"Are you okay, honey?" He asked with clear concern in his eyes. She felt peaceful for a while, as her mind drew a blank. She kissed his cheek, walking beside them.

"Yes! It's nothing, Andrus!" She sighed. "Come on, you'll have a lot of ice creams and cakes to buy today!" He laughed, wondering if his wage as a part-time teacher at the dojo would be enough for that evening. The group walked away, completely ignoring the black-haired woman standing atop of the school building.

"You shouldn't make contact, Atropos." Another girl, this time a blonde one with her hair tied in a ponytail, appeared next to the dark-haired maiden. "We'll deal with the demon when the time is due, don't worry."

"I hope so, Annis," Atropos said. "I really hope so!"

"Do you think we'll have trouble finding the Sailor Soldiers?" Annis watched those girls walk away with a delightful smile across her features.

"We'll soon find out." The serious woman spoke in an ominous voice, Annis wondered if her companion was feeling any concern for those girls. The naivety of the younger woman amused the blonde more than the terror she intended to inflict on the people from Juuban.

"I think I'm going to explode!" Usagi sobbed lying down on her bed. She rolled to each side of her bed as she was very uncomfortable. "Chibiusa, call Ami! Get help!"

"Serves you right for eating that much at once!" The small child packed her bag for the trip, not giving too much attention to the blonde girl. She picked up the old diary she found in the future and scanned Usagi's room for a moment wondering where its present relative would be hidden. She sighed, giving up on going through all that trouble, the parts that interested her were unwritten as of yet, after all.

"Chibiusa." Usagi rolled closer to her future daughter. She had a calm look in her eyes, as she ignored the stomach aches. "Did you really come back in time just to go on this trip with us?" Usagi and Chibiusa discussed that a lot on the way home. Usagi wasn't at all mad for Chibiusa going through her future diary but still wasn't convinced Chibiusa would temper the timeline just to go on a trip.

"The future is boring, Usagi!" Chibiusa lied back, reclining on the bed. "I didn't get to fight Galaxia with you, and it seems some other things have changed since my last time here!"

"Yeah, we actually went through a little trouble a few months ago..." Usagi remembered the terrible battle against the Dream Reapers. "It was around the same time Andrus had transferred to Juuban."

"So that's why he wasn't around the two other times I was in the past."

"Why the sudden interest, Chibiusa?" Usagi had a malicious smile on her face, and the teasing tone of voice provoked the small girl. "You do know he is Ami-chan's boyfriend, right?"

"Of course I know!" Chibiusa blushed with the insinuations. For a moment Usagi felt like the girl was hiding something. It was a mere second of that mature look that Chibiusa was known to hold on occasion before she would go back to responding Usagi at the same level. "Unlike Mamoru, that red-haired boy seems to have some notion of good taste! Ami-chan is quite the catch!"

"You brat!" Usagi's lack of energy due to so much eating restrained her reactions to merely verbal. "Well, she really is, isn't she?" Usagi watched Chibiusa standing up after finishing packing her things and walking to the bedroom door. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I'm going to visit Mamoru! He probably doesn't know yet that I'm back!" Before leaving the room, Chibiusa stuck out her tongue at Usagi. "And don't you dare follow me!"

Usagi meant to protest, but she remembered Mamoru probably wasn't home as he had to work until later that evening so he could travel with them. She just smiled and laid back in her bed, dreaming about their impending trip.

Chibiusa walked alone to the Juuban High School. It was deserted at that time of the evening. She transformed into Sailor Chibi Moon and entered the building.

"I know you are here! Show yourself!" Two shadowy figures appeared at the end of the hallway. Two girls dressed in battle suits derived from the Sailor Senshi outfit stood tall; the first one wore an all-black outfit with silver frills matching her dark short hair, the blonde used a white suit with a longer skirt.

"That was faster than I would've expected." Atropos, the one in dark suit said. "How could a Sailor Soldier know about our existence even before we had made it known?"

"I have my resources!" Chibi Moon spoke in a defiant voice. "What are your plans? Why are you attacking the Sailor Soldiers?"

"Your existence puts ours in danger, Sailor Moon!" Atropos spoke in a serious voice.

"I'm not Sailor Moon!" Chibiusa protested, drawing her attack rod. Tensions were getting higher, and the two parties knew the battle would be inevitable.

"You can't lie to me." The woman raised her hand, pointing her finger at Chibiusa. The air around all of them got heavier, their bodies felt like weighing a ton. As she felt their decrepit powers, Chibiusa never felt so scared in all her life. "Your energy is unmistakable!"

"I think she's telling the truth!" Annis said, albeit confused. "Sailor Moon should be taller!"

"Oh, is that so?" Atropos spoke still unsure. "We should get rid of her anyway, shouldn't we?"

"I'm right here, you know?" Chibiusa pouted her lips, drawing a complex move as to release energy from her rod. "Pink Sugar Heart Ache!" It was a variation of her original attack. Once a mere nuisance, it was now as powerful as her fellow Sailor Soldiers' attacks. The two women dodged with no difficulties, with the blonde one shooting small beams from her fingers, hitting the walls and ceiling of the hallway.

"Wow! You have a really lousy aim, don't you?" Chibi Moon teased, preparing her next move. She was startled when the walls came closing in on her, and the ceiling fell right on her head. The two older fighters saw the girl getting crushed from all directions, as Annis laughed proudly.

"I wasn't aiming at you, little one!" She clapped the dust off her hands, rejoicing with the results of the battle. "One Sailor Soldier down, time to collect the spoils!"

"Annis! Watch out!" Atropos yelled as she saw faint pink lights bleeding through the small crevices on the crushing walls and ceiling. A tremendous beam hit the woman, throwing her to the other end of the hallway.

"Just" Sailor Chibi Moon panted, with her rod in her trembling hands. "Just who are you?" She had gathered all her energies to form a barrier and protect her from that unusual attack. Those two women seemed unlike any other enemy they had ever faced.

"You won't last much longer, I might as well tell you." Atropos sighed, appearing bored with the situation. "We are the Incantation Soldiers!" She spoke with hands in her waist, without losing her confident posture. "Witches, if it's any easier for you to understand. I'm Atropos, the witch responsible for life and time. And she is Black Annis, responsible for matter."

"Why are you hunting Sailor Soldiers?"

"I already told you: your existence puts our very own in danger!"

"I don't understand!"

"Enough talk!" Annis rose between the two arguing soldiers, enraged by the surprise attack Chibi Moon managed to hit her with. "Have at you!" With a sleight of hand, the remains of the walls and ceiling were turned into boulders. Chibiusa was able to dodge them, even though she was having less space to move with each attack. She eventually found herself in a dead end, having no room to maneuver with her back against the front door, which was also blocked by the reminiscent rocks. Annis smiled, controlling one final boulder to end that duel. A bright light shone behind them, invading the hallway as it lit the doors. They could see a silhouette growing near, which interrupted the blond witch.

"We'll end this some other time, little one!" Annis laughed, leaving her companion desolated. Atropos stared at the door for a long time before following Annis in their retreat, and Chibiusa could notice the conflict in the witch's eyes. Upon their leaving, the hallway turned back to its original state, unblocking the main doors.

Chibiusa stared at the silhouette approaching when it finally reached for the door. She held her breath as if it would do anything to prevent the person from opening the door. Much to her surprise, the figure halted and another appeared by the side. She took it as a chance to run and escape using one of the side entrances of the school.

The pink haired girl crossed over the patio to the main entrance seeing at first a cruiser-type motorcycle that flashed its beams against the school's doors. A feminine figure stood next to the bike with her arms crossed at chest height while the other figure, one sporting a biker's jacket and helmet, investigated the school. They were very familiar to the girl and she wondered if the two could be Haruka and Michiru, two of the most powerful Sailor Soldiers. It would explain why the witches fled. Something about their postures and figures wasn't right, though. When the biker removed the helmet and the red hair was revealed, Chibiusa took another look at the jacket, bugging her eyes as she now recognized it.

"Are you really going to ignore me, Andrus?" Ami asked as she stood next to the bike.

"No, of course not!" The boy halted, turning back to his girlfriend. "I just wanted to see what was that noise! You did hear it as well, didn't you?" Ami puffed, discontent. They have been arguing for at least twenty minutes since he appeared in front of her building in that black and red motorcycle.

"Yes, I heard it..." She nodded, vexed, walking beside him so the two would open the doors and check the hallways. "I also think I saw some lights after the noise, but we were still too far to be sure."

"It looks normal, right?"

"Right!" She sighed. She had already given up on the discussion. It had been her first real argument with Andrus since they started dating, and she didn't actually know how to go about it.

"About the bike" His words caught her by surprise. She could have sworn that he was avoiding the topic. "I just bought it because it was really cheap, and in very good condition."

"It's not the money, Andrus!" She pleaded. "You're not old enough to have a license to ride that kind of bike!"

"It's not the license that will ride the bike, Ami-chan!" He laughed as he tried to calm the soldier of wisdom.

"Can you really afford to get in this much trouble?" Those words stung. Ami felt embarrassed for saying them out loud. Andrus fought hard to dissociate from his Yankee history, and it never crossed his mind that the bike, at that moment, could get him into the same problems of the past. Ami hated being the person who made him realize that.

"Look" He sighed, hesitant. "In a month I'll be eighteen, so I'll get my provisional license in no time." She still had a troubled look on her face, which did not go unnoticed by the boy. "Until then I won't ride the bike. Is that better?"

"I don't want you to do something just because I'm complaining about it. It makes me feel like I'm bursting your bubble!"

"Stop fighting, you two!" The screeching girl startled the couple. Chibiusa stepped into the light the bike provided, with an angered look on her face.

"Chibiusa, what are you doing here?" Ami asked, astonished.

"I..." She paused as she stared at both of them. She jumped into the scene by impulse as she couldn't stand the sight of the two fighting. "I was going to Mamoru's house!"

"He lives a little far from here, doesn't he?" Andrus pondered, with his hand in his chin. She couldn't reveal about the witches, and how she knew they were going attack the school. Due to the battered condition of the diary, it wasn't possible to identify who was originally attacked by the witches at that day, but Chibiusa knew it would surely get in the way of the trip, so she tried to solve this without the others' knowledge. Their stares burned inside the girl's heart as if they could read it without any effort.

"I...I got lost, okay?" She lied, answering in a flustered manner. "It has been a while since I have been there!" Chibiusa pouted, crossing her arms. "Anyway, you two have to get along!"

Andrus knelt in front of her, with a sympathetic smile. "Sometimes we have to argue so we can understand one another, Chibiusa-chan!" He turned to Ami. "I understand Ami's worries now that we debated. And I actually agree with her!" The blue haired girl smiled. "I'm not doing what she wants me to do, you see? I'm doing something that I see as right because she showed me a point of view that I haven't considered before!"

"Really?" Chibiusa relaxed as she saw Ami's expression. "But you two seemed so angry with the other mere minutes ago!"

"Going against the person you love the most is a very difficult thing to do, Chibiusa!" The boy spoke as he stood up. "It can make you frustrated or scared with the reaction, and that can be confused with anger!"

"So you two really love each other?" Andrus was amused with the girl's questions. It felt like she was deeply concerned for a family member, and it made him happy that the little girl had such genuine feelings for Ami.

"I love Ami-chan a lot!" He said in a mouthful. He loved the discomposed look in his girlfriend's face whenever he'd say anything along those lines.

Ami smiled, still a little embarrassed. She was about to respond to his declaration but was interrupted by Chibiusa. "So that means that you two will get married!" The couple was caught completely off-guard. The child wasn't asking. There was an authority on her voice, and an incisive gaze upon her face.

"I..." Andrus meant to answer, even though he was quite surprised by the question, and Ami knew that he had complete resolve about answering. Ami, on the other hand, didn't have the courage to listen to what he had to say, muffling his voice as she covered his mouth with her hands.

"You don't have to answer that!" She said, thankful for staying behind him so he wasn't able to see how red her face was. "Chibiusa, I think we are still too young to discuss this subject!" She had an embarrassed smile crossing her features but her tone of voice was gentle as usual. "And don't you think you are too young to think about those things?"

The child sighed clearly frustrated. She stared angered at the couple before she stormed off. Andrus meant to chase her, but his girlfriend held him with a soft touch on his shoulder. "I'll go after her!" Ami said, clearly concerned about the girl. "I have an idea of where she might have gone. You go home and think about a nice name for your bike, Andrus."

He nodded with a faint smile as he saw the blue soldier leaving. Ami probably wouldn't realize how much of her fraternal love for Chibiusa could be seen in her face, but that was something that Andrus really admired about her. She turned over his direction once more. "And when you get your license, I'd really like to go on a road trip with you!" The feeble smile upon his face grew as he heard those words.

"Go find the small lady, Ami-chan!" He stuck out his thumb in a positive gesture, seeing his girlfriend dashing away to find the child. "I'll call you later!"

He stared at the deserted High School building, surprised with a cold wind that blew on that warm summer night. A familiar feeling went across Andrus' spine, as he felt like he was being watched.

 _Next: Shadows of Grief_


	2. 02 - Shadows of Grief

**02 – Shadows of Grief**

Ami found Chibiusa in no time. The small child had this habit of always running to the same park whenever she used to storm off, and this time it was no different. She swung back and forth mellowly on a swing at the middle of the park when Ami sat next to her. The girl appeared to be crying, which did not go unnoticed by the Sailor Soldier.

"Chibiusa" She said in a soft voice. "What is happening?" Ami noticed the shoulders of the girl contracting in pure tension as if she didn't want to have that conversation. Chibiusa sighed, realizing that Ami was really concerned about her.

"I don't think you would understand..." The girl spoke in a gloomy voice. She stared at her friend, unable to hide the conflict in her eyes.

"Why don't you try me, Chibiusa?" Ami was always gentle and caring, and that usually broke through the child's defenses.

"Ami-chan" The child spoke albeit still shy. "In the future, you and the other girls dedicated your lives for the Neo-Queen Serenity. For my mother. You never complained, and I always could see how much you loved your queen."

"Well, she still is Usagi, after all." Ami replied, wondering where this conversation would lead.

"The thing is..." She hesitated once more. In her mind she could see the vivid image of Ami as Sailor Mercury sitting in front of a computer, sobbing. "I always thought you girls were a little lonely." She remembered how future Ami would try to disguise her sadness around Chibiusa, even though she knew it was useless. "And when I saw you with the red-haired boy, I thought that maybe if you two got married, you wouldn't be so alone in the future!"

Ami covered her mouth with her hand, muffling her already discrete laughter. She was amused with the concern of that young girl and also the simple solution she had to that problem. "Isn't it dangerous to try and change the time line, Chibiusa?"

"What do you mean, Ami-chan?" She asked intrigued.

"Well" She sighed, gazing at the sky with wonder in her eyes. Since the time they went to the future to rescue Chibiusa, Ami was constantly studying and researching about time travel and its repercussions. "there's a theory that says that if you change even the slightest thing in the past, you might change the whole future in a drastic manner. If in the future I'm not supposed to be with Andrus, you convincing us to marry might prevent me from being there to protect Neo-Queen Serenity."

"I..." Chibiusa stared down, embarrassed. "I never thought about that."

"It's a risk that I'm sure I wouldn't be worthy of." Ami rested her hand on the girl's shoulder, with a gentle smile on her face. "Besides, it is impossible that I would be this lonely, if you, Usagi and the others are there with me, Chibiusa! Don't you worry!"

"What if it was worth the risk?" The girl still seemed to be tense, even with those calming words from Ami. "Would you take the chance to change the future?"

"You mean like when you came back to save your mother and father?"

"Yes...something like that!"

"Is that why you came back this time?" The worry in Ami's voice was palpable. Chibiusa gulped and stepped down from the swing, turning around to her friend with a sweet smile on her face.

"No! Not at all!" She laughed, holding her hands in front of her. "I'm just wondering if you would have any exceptions for that rule!"

"Well...maybe if it was to save someone dear to me, like Usagi, and I had a real chance to do it, I would risk changing the future for her!" She stood next to Chibiusa. "Just like you did when we first met you!"

"I'm glad to hear that!" They both laughed, although Ami was still a little suspicious. She had the impression that Chibiusa was feeling guilty as her shoulders never relaxed from the tension in their whole conversation even though she was smiling. "So, tomorrow we'll be going to the beach, right?"

"Right!" They walked back to Usagi's house, where Ami dropped the girl off. "We'll meet here early in the morning, don't sleep too much, okay?"

"Don't worry about me!" Chibiusa cheerfully replied. "Worry about Usagi!"

"You're right!" Ami laughed, waving to the girl that was entering the house. "Keep an eye on her for us, okay?"

"Okay!" Chibiusa entered, leaning against the door as she heard Ami leaving. With a heavy sigh she dropped the joyful act, glooming as she gave thought to their conversation. She heard soft footsteps coming from the stairs, and soon after Usagi appeared in the hallway.

"So, how is Mamoru?" She asked in a sarcastic tone that Chibiusa recognized all too well.

"I didn't meet him." The morose voice worried Usagi. It wasn't like her to not talk back. The teasing between the two was already a part of their dynamic. "I ran into Ami-chan and we talked for a while."

"I was going to tell you..." She reached for the girl's shoulders, trying to comfort whatever was troubling her. "Mamoru had to work late so we could go to the beach tomorrow, but you left too fast!"

"That's ok, Usagi!" She stared at the blonde with a sad smile on her face that she wasn't able to disguise. Chibiusa felt lucky, for a moment she almost gave away that she wasn't really going to see Mamoru.

"Are you alright, Chibiusa?" The small girl turned around and hugged Usagi tight. Caught by surprise, Usagi couldn't do much but react to the hug, with an instinct that her future child needed the tightest hug possible.

"Of course!" Chibiusa let go of her future mother, with a calmer expression across her features. "I just missed you all!" She went up the stairs. "I told you: the future is nowhere as exciting as this time period!" In a second, the girl was already in her room.

The pressure was too much for Chibiusa to handle. She felt alone and she knew it was because she wasn't trusting the other girls to help her. She felt like crying, she felt like screaming in agony. But she didn't concede to her feelings. She wasn't a small kid anymore, she couldn't cry. So why was it so hard to control her tears?

A faint light shone in a corner of the room that startled the girl. Upon closer examination she could see there was a ball in the shape of a cat's head, and the light was coming from its eyes. "Luna P!" She held the ball tight, embracing it in a hug. "What are you doing here?"

The light coming from its eyes projected an image against the bedroom wall. Sailor Pluto appeared from the image and she didn't look very happy. "Small Lady" She spoke in a scolding voice. "What are you doing in the past?"

"I had to, Puu!" She stood up defiantly. "The future is still wrong!"

"Small Lady, what you are trying to do could change everything we fought for!"

"Ami said the same thing." The girl bowed down her head with a defeated look on her face.

"I can't believe she let you go to the past!" Sailor Pluto puffed, incredulous with all that was happening.

"No, I mean present Ami, not future Ami, they have no idea I'm gone!" Chibiusa stared at Pluto, thinking about what to say. "I'll try to come home before they even notice I went back in time. I actually gave much thought about what I'm doing, Pluto! I'll try to change this with little consequences to the future!"

"That's not how it works, Chibiusa!" Setsuna called her by the nickname she gained in the past. It was her way to let the child know she was talking at the same level. She wasn't the guardian of time at that moment, she was her friend Setsuna. "If Ami talked about that with you, she must have told you that even the minimal change could have gigantic consequences."

"I'll risk it, Puu!" Chibiusa was determined. All she had to do was remember the sadness upon everyone's face and she was sworn to never back down. "And I hope you can forgive me!" The image disappeared, leaving the girl all alone in her crusade. She tried to sleep so the morning of the trip would come faster, but her mind wouldn't give her peace. She eventually fell asleep due to exhaustion.

In an alley far from there, protected by iron gates with inscriptions in bold letters that said "Prince's Alley", an incantation was about to be reunited. Annis and Atropos were the first to arrive, going to their haven, a deserted pub, immediately after the fight against Sailor Chibi Moon.

"We shouldn't have run away, Annis!" Atropos was annoyed with their retreat. She tapped her feet with anxiety as she waited for the others to arrive. "We could defeat the Sailor Soldier and probably the demon as well!"

"Why are you so obsessed with it?" The blonde witch spoke in jest, as she sat next to Atropos. No regular human being could enter the Prince's Alley, as it was covered in heavy magic that shadowed it from the regular world. Any person that came across the Prince's Alley would immediately forget it and go on their way. It was a sanctuary for all sort of magical beings, and even creatures from other dimensions would gather around in one of the shops in the alley.

"She is obsessed" A voice could be heard from the back of the pub, as a Witch arrived. "because she knows what that demon is capable of." The woman with long green hair said in a neutral tone. She was young but had a mature gaze upon her eyes, as if she had seen too much in this world and maybe some others. "And even you have some knowledge about his powers, Annis!"

"Merel!" Annis said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She was about to tease the green haired woman but gave up as she couldn't think of a sneering comeback. "Welcome!"

"Thank you, old friend!" Merel smiled as she noticed Annis was still trying to think of a way to provoke her. "So you're the prodigious witch I've been hearing of!" She turned to Atropos, greeting and confusing the young woman.

"I had no idea I was famous." Atropos said, suspicious.

"Our leader has had her eyes on you since you first showed yourself, Atropos." Merel had this look upon her face as if she was inspecting or measuring Atropos at every single moment.

"I was thinking..." Annis interrupted. "Where exactly did you come from, Atropos?"

"I..."

"She is from England." Merel answered as she sat on a bench, waiting for something or someone. "I still can't pinpoint exactly from which part. It's not anywhere I have ever seen or been to!"

"What is this all about?" Atropos asked, annoyed by the interrogatory and by how they appeared to be trying to confuse her. "What exactly is your power, Merel?"

"I can read minds." Those dreaded words made a chill run across Atropos' spine. "Is not like I can help it, but I can contain it enough. I'm trying to figure you out without going in too deep. All the voices in my head could make a huge damage. For you and me!"

"I..." Atropos felt really bad. She seemed to know all too well what was like to have a power that felt like a curse. "I didn't know! I'm sorry!"

"You are" The green haired witch laughed, enjoying the genuine feelings she could sense in the younger witch. "And you are also scared we won't be able to stop this 'demon' in time."

"I almost killed him once!" Annis sat beside Merel, bothered by the waiting. "I surely can do it this time!"

"What a surprise!" A woman revealed herself from the shadows. She had purple hair and a luscious smile upon her face. She was accompanied by two owls in her shoulders. "Annis is talking about the murder of children once more!"

"Circe!" Annis greeted the witch with warmth. Atropos noticed how they appeared to be good friends by the way they spoke to each other. Even though she was new at this, she realized by herself that people around her could put up a facade whenever it was convenient. It seemed like one of those situations, as she could also sense some tension between Annis and Circe. "You're late! Where are Cassandra and Morgana?"

"I am here!" Morgana spoke, as she entered the pub. She had long red hair, green eyes, and dressed in a long red dress with a hooded dark cape. Beside her stood a woman with the same attire, but with inverted colors. "And so is my sister." Cassandra just nodded shyly while they joined the rest of the witches. They appeared to be twins, with the only difference between them being the hair length, as Cassandra wore hers very short.

"And the coven is whole once more." The seventh voice is heard among the witches, but no seventh witch could be seen. A thin fog surrounded the six witches, and it seemed that a part of their essence joined the dazing smoke. In the center of the room a cloaked woman appeared: the leader of the Incantation.

"High Priestess!" All witches took a knee, saluting their leader. Atropos hesitated but soon followed.

"War is about to begin, my dear witches!" The woman pulled down her cloak, revealing her face. She was beautiful, with long and wavy dark hair that reflected a peculiar purple shade. "It seems that the Sailor Soldiers are already aware of our presence."

"The small one appeared unexpected, master!" Annis justified the situation. Atropos noticed how nervous she was, even though she had already proved to be very powerful. She registered that for further references.

"It's not a big deal." The High priestess spoke in a soothing voice, calming down the other witches. "They would have to know sooner or later."

"So what will be our course of action?" Merel inquired. Atropos realized by the look on her face that the witch wasn't able to read the High Priestess' mind. She also noticed how that was reassuring for the leader of the incantation.

"Infiltrate the city. You are all very different in your powers and approach, so I'm sure you'll figure out if you'd rather find the Soldiers' identity and take them by surprise, or if you'd want to get their attention directly."

"You know it!" Annis said in a malicious voice. Atropos was rather creeped out by how thirsty for blood that beautiful blonde woman could be. She knew their survival depended on that, but she felt no pleasure on having to kill young women like themselves. Witches and Soldiers. For Atropos they were two sides of the same coin. Was it really impossible to live peacefully? Her mind drifted for the visions of the demon destroying every single one of them. She already had her answer.

It was morning. Chibiusa was atthe beach with the girls, Mamoru and Andrus. They were having fun, much like the diary said they would have. She ran around, bathed in the sea, and played with all her friends. All her worries had gone for that while.

"You look better than yesterday, Chibiusa!" Usagi said in bliss, happy that the child no longer seemed so tense and preoccupied.

"Nothing like a good day at the beach, huh?" Makoto laughed as they almost got knocked down by a furtive wave. Chibiusa also smiled with joy, shutting her eyes for just a second.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in the middle of the ocean. The beach was much too far. "Wait...what happened?" She gasped, struggling against the current and swimming back to the sand.

As she got closer, she could see the skies turning gray. And when she actually got back to the beach, it was darkened and ominous. The atmosphere was familiar, and the dreadful feeling taking hold of her took her back to memories she would like to never relive.

Silver points appeared in the sky, and, at first, she thought they were stars. It was too early for that to be true, though. Upon further inspection, she realized the dots were actually ships in the shape of diamonds. The vessels of the Black Moon clan, the enemies that attacked her in the future and made her go back to the past for the first time.

"No!" She cried. "They can't be here! We defeated them!" One of the ships got closer and a red-haired man with a brown vest and green military pants stood outside, facing the girl.

"Finally found you, rabbit!" Rubeus laughed defiantly. She could see the rest of the Black Moon clan behind him. Esmeraude, Demande, and Saphir all stood menacingly, all waiting for the chance to destroy her.

She woke up in a sweat and a high pitched cry that she wasn't able to contain. Usagi was next to her and stood there in silence with worried eyes. Chibiusa panted, trying to regain control.

"Are you okay?" Usagi asked. Chibiusa gripped the sheets tightly in her hands, still shaken by the dream.

"I...I had a bad dream!" She sighed, faking a smile. "I'm glad you were here to wake me up!"

"You wouldn't wake up when I called you, so I entered to see if everything was alright."

"Oh no!" She looked at the clock at her bedside, realizing she overslept. "We are late! They are going to leave without us!" She tried to stand up and leave the bed, but her feet got entranced by the sheets and knocked her down head first on the floor. Usagi tried not to laugh, helping the girl up.

"Well, you look a little better, after all!" She was able to contain her laugh up to that point, as Chibiusa went downstairs in a haste. "Don't worry too much, they won't be here for at least another ten minutes, just hurry up and you can get ready in time!"

"Thanks, Usagi!" Chibiusa hurried with her breakfast, getting scolded by Ikuko Tsukino, Usagi's mother. She gave thought to that dream at every moment she could. Did it mean anything at all? Should she be worried? It's not like she didn't have enough on her mind.

Ami, Minako, Makoto, and Rei, along with Andrus were already together and heading to Usagi's house. Some, like Andrus and Minako, were sleepy as it was still very early, others, like Makoto and Rei, were energetic as usual.

A voice from afar caught their attention. At first they didn't recognize what were the words spouted, but it surely sounded like it was calling for them, or at least one of them. As they turned around, they could see a boy about their age running towards them. He had long dark hair and wore beaten up jeans with a black jacket. Finally they could understand what he was saying.

"Kino-senpai!" He called for Makoto. As he caught up he bent down to recover his breath. "I can't believe it's you!"

"You..." Makoto failed to recognize the boy. Upon further inspection, as he turned his head up, she finally realized who it was. "Jinchuu!"

"Jinchuu?" Minako said with a snarky smile on her face.

"I mean," Makoto corrected herself in a haste. "Ukematsu-kun!"

"You look great, Makoto!" His familiarity was nerve-wracking to Makoto. Jinchuu was her kouhai, her underclassmen, from before she moved to Juuban. She never would expect to see him at that moment.

"Guys," She decided it was best to introduce him already, before anyone would get the wrong idea. "This is my neighbor from the time I lived in Shounan!"

"I'm Jinchuu Ukematsu!" He introduced himself with a large grin upon his face. The rest of the group proceeded to present themselves as well, amused to that turn of events.

"Would you mind if we meet at the station?" Makoto surprised everyone with that statement. Whoever that was, he should be somehow important to her. "It's really been a long time since I last saw you!"

It took Chibiusa exactly twelve minutes to get ready and join Usagi outside. It was just in time, as the rest of the gang had barely got there. They cheerfully greeted the late duo, while Rei teased them for the delay.

"Is everybody here?" Usagi asked, realizing that Makoto was yet to arrive. "Where's Mako-chan? Did something happened to her?"

"Oh, yeah!" Andrus had a malicious smile upon his face, to which Ami promptly noticed and patted his back. "You could say that!"

"Stop it!" Ami scolded the boy, who was having fun with the situation. "While we were coming here Makoto met a former kouhai from before she moved to Juuban, she told us to meet her at the bus station so she could have a chance to catch up with him."

"He seemed like a good guy!" Andrus said.

"You're saying that because he has long hair like you used to!" Rei noticed the similarities between the two boys right away.

"And because he is a ball of energy, just like you, Andrus!" Minako helped Rei as they both teased him.

"I'm a fireball!" He said, crossing his arms as he pouted. He was, after all, very fond of the nickname Ami had given him. "It's really uncool of you to tarnish my respect for Ukematsu-san!"

They started going to the bus station, where they would meet Makoto. Andrus walked beside Ami, watching Usagi and Chibiusa with a slight concern. "Ami-chan" He caught his girlfriend's attention. "Doesn't Chibiusa look a little burned out?"

"Oh, Usagi told me she had a bad dream, so that's why she got late." Ami pondered, thinking about their talk in the night before.

"Maybe I can be of some help." The boy wondered if he could use his powers in that situation. It had been a long time since he last hopped inside a dream, and he only did it when there was actual danger lurking around.

"I don't think it'd do any good, Andrus." She spoke with a little joy in her voice. She admired how he was worried about her friend and also willing to help. "Sometimes we need bad dreams to help us cope with something, and maybe that's what happened."

"You seem to have some idea of why it happened."

"Yeah, some idea..." It was just a hunch, after all. Chibiusa wouldn't tell her more but Ami suspected that it had something to do with the talk they had.

They met the flustered Makoto at the bus station along with Jinchuu. When they arrived, Makoto immediately dispatched the boy. She knew they would provoke her for meeting him right before their trip to the beach. No matter how they would look at that situation, it seemed like two lovers departing.

"Oh, Makoto! You're so naughty!" Usagi hugged and teased her. "Is that such a forbidden relationship that you have to hide it from us?"

"N-No! I've always seen Jinchuu as a little brother for me!" The girl said as she tried to hide her embarrassment. "It's just that Jinchuu was always shy around many people!"

"Oh, Makoto!" Minako followed Usagi's antics. "You're blushing so hard! I wonder if there are any mixed feelings for any of you!" As Makoto stood silent they all figured there might have been some true to that statement. She just looked down as if a sensible topic had just come up. As the bus departed, they dispersed their attentions.

It took a while, and the bus was a little more crowded than they'd expected, but eventually, they got to the beach. The refreshing breeze, the bright sun and the soothing sound of the waves crashing against the white sand seemed to wash away every single worry of that group.

"Ahhh" Andrus inhaled with a large grin on his face. He stretched himself in a lazy manner. "This is awesome!" It felt like home. Since he was a child he loved the beach, and whenever he was in Brazil he would spend most of his time going to the beaches. He let himself go, falling on the sand on his back.

"I didn't know you liked the beach that much!" Ami crouched beside him, amused by the unquestionable joy he displayed. "Do you want to stay here while I go check our hostel reservations?"

"Can I?" He gazed at her and his eyes shone with the possibility of enjoying the beach. "I mean... no, don't worry! I'll go with you!"

She laughed, pushing him back to the sand when he tried to get up. "Stay here, fireball!" Their eyes locked and they exchanged intense stares that neither had expected. She knew he wanted to hold her and kiss her right there, but contained himself due to their company. He could see in her eyes that she wanted to leap into his arms and squeeze herself tight against his body, but contained herself, as it was expected of her. It took them a few seconds to get full control of themselves, and Ami just pecked his forehead with a subtle kiss. "I'll be right back!"

His heart was beating fast as he watched her go. Her blood boiled in a manner she never experienced. "I'll be waiting!" He raised his head as to watch her go, and when he turned it back to the beach, he could see all girls staring at him with mocking smiles in their faces, as they judged the boy. "What?"

"I think I should go with her." Mamoru said. He enjoyed how Andrus would get over flustered with the girls' mockery, as it meant he wouldn't be their target. He also was glad that Ami's relationship was going well, as he cared deeply for all of those girls, not only Usagi. "The reservations are in my name, after all."

Ami entered the medium white house by the beach that opened its doors to rent a couple of its rooms for travelers. It was cheap and would suffice for the two nights they would be spending at the beach. An old woman with an easy smile greeted her as she walked inside the building.

"Good morning!" The young girl said. "I'm with the Chiba group that reserved two rooms." The woman went through a dusty book, searching the pages for an awfully long time.

"Ha!" She spoke, after some time. "Found it!" She turned the book over to Ami, showing a line below the name 'Chiba, Mamoru'. "Sign here, darling! I'm also going to need some identification of the person that made the reservations!"

"That would be me!" Mamoru arrived, reaching his wallet and handing his id to the old woman.

"Right on time, Mamoru!" Ami spoke with a satisfying tone in her voice. She admired how the man usually predicted those kinds of situations, being always ahead in his actions. He took the book in his hands and signed the registration of the rooms.

"So," He said, while the old woman searched for the rooms' keys. "You and Homura seem to be getting along well, right?"

"Y-Yeah..." Ami blushed. It was part of her shy nature to get embarrassed whenever the red-headed boy was brought to the conversation. "I'm actually a little surprised with that!"

"So am I!" Mamoru laughed discretely. "I mean, Andrus appears to be a great guy, but I never thought you were into the 'bad boy' type!"

Ami shrugged, not sure on how to respond to that remark, as it appeared to be coming out of nowhere. "He's not like that at all, Mamoru! You should take this chance to get to know him better."

"I might!" He leaned upon the counter and handed the registration book to the old woman. "Last I saw him was when he woke up from his coma. I actually didn't get to talk that much to him. So..." A strange atmosphere seemed to be forming around Ami and Mamoru. The girl felt restless for a while. "...What do you two talk about?"

"Wh...what?" Ami was caught off-guard. It was the first time Mamoru ever displayed such concern for her personal life. "Well, we...we usually talk about school stuff, and..." She didn't really know how to answer that question, and the sudden embarrassment taking hold of her didn't help at all.

"It seems so shallow." The man was blunt, rude even. Ami felt at a loss for words. "Don't you think?"

"I..." She never gave that much thought about her relationship with Andrus. It just felt really good around the boy, but, confronted with those words, she realized it couldn't actually match the level of intimacy and intensity Usagi and Mamoru had.

"What am I talking about?" He laughed, laying a hand on her shoulder. "You should have fun while you're at it, right?" He left, not even giving a chance for her to reply. As soon as he went back to the beach, the sudden oppressive feeling weighing over Ami's shoulder seemed to wane. It was odd, and the anxiety would take longer to disappear from the girl's mind.

She sat on the bench at the reception, covering her eyes with her hand. Was that how everyone saw her relationship with Andrus? Was everyone that surprised that she could date a former Yankee? Would the girls be counting down how long could the two of them could stay together? Tears rolled down her face, caring little for how much she tried to conceal them.

"Why are you crying?" She heard a voice beside her. It was silky and smooth, with a genuine care that surprised her as she realized she couldn't recognize the person that spoke. She turned her head and saw a girl with short dark hair, a sullen expression across her features, and black eyes that looked like big marbles. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes...it's..." Ami brushed the tears away from her face, trying to get her act together with a forced smile. "It's nothing, really. Don't worry about me!"

"You have a good fake smile." The young woman said, gently smiling back. "Are you crying for that red-headed boy that arrived with you?"

"I..." She hesitated. It was weird to open up to a random stranger, but it felt harder and harder to resist by each second that passed. "...kinda..."

"He looks dangerous." There was something suspicious about that girl, Ami thought, but she couldn't tell what. Maybe it was the clothes she wore, too cliche for a trip to the beach, with a straw hat strapped and falling to the nape of her neck. Maybe it was the soothing sound of her voice that entranced Ami.

"I heard it before." Ami sighed, leaning her head back on the bench. "And I'm sure he heard it millions of times."

"You're worried about him?" The girl asked with such genuine surprise, that, for a moment, it made Ami's heart lighter.

"Why wouldn't I?" Ami laughed. "He might look dangerous, and I can tell you that he is strong, but I care a lot for him! He is not just my boyfriend, he is a dear friend!"

"But what if he is not what he seems to be?" Those words triggered some memories on the blue soldier's mind. She was the mysterious girl at the school, the day Usagi, Minako, and Andrus took the recovery exams.

"Wait, aren't you also a student at Juuban High?" Ami asked. "I remember seeing you there once, but...it's a little cloudy!"

"I..." Atropos was in shock. It shouldn't be possible for her to remember, she made sure of that. Annis did warn her not to get involved, though. "Yes...actually!"

"So that's why you think he is dangerous!" Ami felt a little more relaxed, which Atropos noticed but couldn't figure out why. "Andrus had a rough start at our school, and word got out that he was a delinquent, but I was there, and I can assure you it was all a misunderstanding!"

The witch sighed, it fitted nicely with her cover, so she went along with Ami's train of thought. "Yeah, that's why I thought he was a scary guy! It was weird to have just transferred and see that alarming fellow!" She tried to come across as transparent and direct, but Ami could only smile with the awkwardness of that girl. "But you're so inclined on defending him, doesn't that get tiresome?"

"Well, isn't that expected when someone is wrongly accused of something?" Ami's speech was becoming bothersome to Atropos, worrisome even. Still, she admired the blue haired girl more and more as they talked. The fierceness of her beliefs, the kindness and openness she showed towards her, it all felt new and refreshing to the witch.

"Maybe you're right." Atropos stared at the house's exit, with a goal set in her mind. "I..." She shrugged as if there was some conflict in her mind that she was trying to brush away. She remembered the visions, the demon that burned down her hometown. "I have to go!" She stood up in a haste, walking away.

"Wait!" Ami called for her. "I really have to thank you!"

"For what?" The witch halted, with a surprised look on her face.

"Talking to you made me feel better!" She rose and walked to the dark-haired girl. "I'm Ami! You're staying at this hostel as well, right? Please come meet me and my friends later at the beach!"

"I..." Atropos was in a pinch. She had to flee before it became too late. She didn't want to get involved. She should have followed Annis' advice. Those were the lies Atropos told herself and was more than willing to believe at the moment. Still, she felt attracted towards that young woman. She had to save her from the demon.

"I'm sorry, I don't even know your name..."

"A..." She gasped and gagged, a cold sweat ran down her spine. She meant to bolt away from the place, but was paralyzed by that situation. A warm hand reached for her shoulder, and she could see the green haired witch standing right beside her. She dressed in a swimsuit that matched the color of her hair, which Atropos thought it was a little too revealing, and didn't seem to match the witch's personality at all.

"Come away, Melinda!" Merel said, in a soft voice. "We have to go now."

"Oh!" Atropos, in her thoughts, thanked the witch, only later wondering if she could have read her mind in that situation. "I'm sorry, I was caught up in a conversation with Ami..."

"I'm the one that has to apologize." Ami intervened, bowing her head slightly towards the two witches. "I bothered Melinda with my worries and troubles, I didn't mean to hold her up from any obligations!"

"Oh, children!" Merel said, only afterward realizing she didn't look that much older than the other two to talk to them like they were kids. "Let's stop with the apologies, I'm glad our Melinda made a new friend!"

"Then..." The blue soldier hesitated. "...would you meet with us later?" Ami asked Melinda, who shyly stood next to Merel.

"Y-yeah...I'll do my best to meet with you!" The two witches walked away, leaving a carefree Ami behind. When they were far away they assumed their battle vests, which looked eerily derived from the Sailor Soldiers' battle suits, only with darker colors and different bows and themes.

"Melinda?" Atropos said, discontent, as she crossed her arms.

"Ah, I love that name!" Merel said with a large smile on her face. "I love fake names! They hold no power at all, and are so fun! Isn't that why you chose the name Atropos?"

"And watch should I call you, then?"

"Jennifer!" She didn't even give any thought before replying, entertained as she was. "But, Atropos, why did you ask me and Cassandra to manipulate the girl's thoughts to distance her from the demon, if you were going to go there and make their bound even stronger with that talk?" Cassandra made herself visible to the duo. She had a shy nature that was always accentuated whenever she was far from her twin.

"It was fun to mess with that man's paranoia as well." The red-headed witch had a dour raspy voice, as a faint smile rose upon her face. Merel would read Mamoru and Ami's thoughts and Cassandra would use her powers to act upon them to create a state of paranoia and sadness, whichever emotional specter she felt was proper to the situation. That conversation, though, held no interest for Cassandra. She bowed her head to the other two witches, and, just like she appeared, she suddenly faded away, leaving no trace of being there at all.

"I..." Atropos sighed. That outcome wasn't part of her plan. She wanted to get rid of the boy as soon as she could, trying to hurt those girls the least as possible. "I just couldn't stand to see her suffering like that, especially for that monster! I just didn't think she could care so much for him!"

"She does care." Merel spoke, as she had read Ami's mind with more interest than other targets. "And she was very glad that you were around, Melinda!" She teased, expecting to see what kind of reaction Atropos would have.

"I...I know that!" The witch replied, trying to contain her embarrassment. "She told us before we left, remember?"

"I do, but it could be just out of her politeness. In her mind, she was really glad someone like you, willing to listen, arrived at the exact moment!"

"So what?" She tried to sound angry, but it was worthless around a mind reader.

"You could take this chance to make a friend, Atropos." Merel slowly turned into a green smoke, until she disappeared completely, leaving the witch alone. "I know how much you wanted one!"

Atropos snapped her tongue, letting a soft smile rise on her face as she realized the green witch was trying her best to take care of her.

Next: Sweet Pretender


	3. 03 - Sweet Pretender

****03 – Sweet Pretender****

She finally arrived at the beach. Her heart was racing with a new found excitement after her talk with Melinda as if that ruthless conversation with Mamoru had never happened. She was greeted by Usagi, Makoto, and the others, and, for that moment on, Ami vowed to herself that nothing would bother her, nor distract her from the fun she was promised.

Ami ran across the beach, avoiding every suspicious stare. After all, it was evident that she had been crying, and now she was even ashamed for dropping those tears over such a silly matter. Maybe Mamoru was just watching over her, maybe he just spoke without giving much thought, but he was right about one thing: she should be enjoying those moments with her boyfriend.

She let go of her bag and took off the shirt covering her swimsuit as she dived into the water without hesitating. It felt like washing away all of her worries. She spent a long while underwater until she rose once again as she was running out of breath. Everyone had already diverted their attention. She sighed, trying to feel better, but it was also easier said than done. After the initial excitement, Mamoru's words came down like a hammer that really hurt the Sailor Soldier, after all.

Ami gasped, startled by the pair of arms that entranced her. The voice that spoke her name in an odd rhythmic way denounced Andrus. It was probably due to his accent, as he lived part of his childhood in Japan, and the other part in Brazil. "Ami-chan!" He said softly. "Are you okay?"

The young woman held to his arms, smiling gently as she leaned her head against his shoulder. "Why do you ask, Andrus?"

"You took a while to get back, and you just dropped your things before going into the water in a haste." He seemed worried, she thought. He cared for her as much as she cared for him. Her heart raced, as that was some kind of confirmation for her that their feelings were in fine tune. "Is something troubling you?"

"It's nothing." She shrugged, knowing she still had no strength to make those words sound confident or believable. She didn't turn her face to him once. "I'm really happy that you are here with all of us!"

"So am I!" He pecked her cheek with a kiss, letting her go. There was trouble in his eyes, but she knew he would try to deny if confronted about it. He could see the trouble in her eyes but wondered if there would be anything he could do to help. "Wanna race to the beach?"

"That's not a good idea!" She laughed. He probably didn't even realize how childish he sounded at that moment. Maybe he just didn't care. "I _am_ the soldier of water, after all!"

"Show, don't tell!" With a resigned sigh, she accepted the challenge. He got set, waiting for her sign. She placed herself next to him, containing a faint grin that sneaked upon her face.

"Go!" They swam with all their might after the shout of that small Japanese girl. "He is fast!" She thought, impressed. Still, she _was_ the Sailor Soldier of water and wouldn't give him an easy victory.

"She is amazing!" He couldn't help but smile even after she passed him with ease. They were both great swimmers, but she practiced constantly while he was merely an enthusiast.

Chibiusa watched the couple laughing as Ami helped Andrus stand up, as he clearly pretended to be offended by his loss. She sighed, wondering what was that weird atmosphere surrounding the group. She thought about the diary and wondered if she made a terrible mistake by coming back.

Andrus and Ami walked towards the group, and the girl joined her friends. Andrus was still worried about what could have happened that made his girlfriend that sad. Thinking back to when she left, the only different thing was Mamoru joining her. He knew little about that man, other than what he gathered from the Dream Reapers situation.

Mamoru was Usagi's boyfriend and also doubled as Tuxedo Mask. He seemed like a great guy and Ami spoke highly of him whenever she had the chance, but Andrus interacted with him too little to make up his mind. Maybe it was the time to change that.

"Andrus," It was Makoto. She stood next to him while everyone was distracted in their conversation. "Is Ami alright?"

"So you also noticed, huh?" He replied, crossing his arms. "Do you think Chiba-san could have said something that bothered her?"

"What?" She gasped, surprised. "No way! Mamoru is not like that!"

"Maybe he's just being protective?" Makoto was somewhat satisfied with those words. She knew Andrus and Ami were getting along, but it pleased her that he would come for help when he realized something was off with the blue girl.

"I really don't think so..." Andrus heard those words but were not in the slightest convinced. Something _was_ wrong. He had to figure it out for his girlfriend's sake. When his eyes met with a volleyball net standing tall in the sand, an idea hit him.

"Can you help me prove it?" He spoke, with a faint smile rising upon his face.

"Sure, if that would ease your mind..." She thought if that was the right decision. Deep inside she was getting uncertain about what could happen, but eventually, she convinced herself that maybe there was a possibility the young man was right. What harm could be done by helping him, after all?

"Okay," He smiled. "Follow my lead!" He crouched and opened his bag, taking out a volleyball. Makoto smirked, wondering what her friend was planning. "Makoto!" He yelled. "It's about time we settle this once and for all!" The young man struck a pose while pointing at her, trying to sound dramatic. All eyes were on both of them.

"Oh, that'll be good!" The tall woman laughed, as she crossed her arms in a confident stance. "The losers shall treat the whole group with snacks, then! I'll pick Minako to be my partner!" The blonde with red ribbon adorning her hair heard her name and stood up in a haste, although a bit unaware of what was going on.

"Leave it to me, Mako-chan!" Minako said, confident. "I'm not one who'll pass up treats!"

" _Cacete_!" Andrus said in Portuguese while he smiled and scanned across his options, even though it was already decided. "Mamoru, I already lost too much money yesterday buying cakes and ice creams for those girls, help me out, will ya?"

"What?" Mamoru laughed, wondering just what was going on around him. Still, Ami's words about how he should get to know Andrus better resonated inside his head, and that seemed like a good chance. He rose, shy at first, and stood alongside Andrus on one end of the net. "Okay, then..."

"Let's do this!" Andrus took a running start, slapping the ball with all his might to the other side of the net. Neither Minako nor Makoto made any move, as they realized his ungracious attack would go out of bounds.

"First one to get to 21 points wins, right?" Minako teased, reaching for the ball. "We'll go easy on you!" She leaped, fiercely tapping the ball over the net. It was pinpointed to Mamoru, that rose the ball with a forearm pass. Andrus was right behind, and, with a jump, he cut it down with a powerful blow.

"We're tied as of now, girls!" He said, reaching for Mamoru's shoulder and winking. The man smiled, content that his assistance bore results. "No need to go easy on us!"

The game went on. By each play Mamoru and Andrus got more synchronized, putting up a good fight against the incredible combo that Minako and Makoto were proving to be. Minako played on a whole other level than the rest, and Makoto was very athletic by nature, so they were a tough duo to beat.

The score was tight. 20 for the girls, while the young men were able to score 19 points. If Andrus and Mamoru could get another point, they still had a fighting chance. If Makoto and Minako scored once more, it was all over. As the match dragged to that point, it had already caught the attention from the rest of the girls. Ami, Rei, Usagi, and Chibiusa watched closely, as the match was on its climax.

"Shouldn't you cheer for him?" Chibiusa asked Ami, trying to sound as gentle as possible. She could see that Ami was still a little distracted, but couldn't tell why. The blue soldier wondered what Andrus was trying to achieve, and also if it could be a coincidence that he called Mamoru to play with him.

The decisive ball flew through the air. Mamoru served the ball with a spinning tap. It curved dangerously close to the net but were caught with an inch to the sand by a dive from Minako. The ball rose, and Makoto was already there to spike it violently.

Mamoru tapped it gently, setting the ball for Andrus that rose with a running jump. Instead of hitting it, he served as a decoy while he passed it across to Mamoru's side, that tried an off-speed hit, not using his maximum force in an attempt to drive the ball out of reach with a spin.

The diversion didn't work, though. Makoto was able to reach it and keep the ball alive. Ami smiled, as she finally came to a conclusion: this was obviously their doing. It was naive of the red-haired _Yankee_ and the girl with rose earrings, but it was their own way to make her feel better. And it was working, as silly as it was.

She took a long breath, screaming at the top of her voice. "Andrus! Mamoru! You can do it!" It took Andrus by surprise, and he couldn't keep from looking at her. He smiled confidently. She smiled back, albeit shy. He wouldn't give up now. He couldn't give up now. He would use those words to fill him with determination.

And then he was hit.

Minako spiked the ball in a desperate move, fearing she wouldn't be able to reach the ball Makoto passed her. She didn't even aim, but fate had it that the ball should smack the crimson headed boy and knock him to his back. Mamoru was also surprised and there was no way he could have reacted to that ball. Silence reigned absolute for what it felt like an eternity, and then laughter took over the whole gang.

"That was cheap, Minako!" Andrus sat down, brushing the sand from his face. The blonde couldn't stop laughing, bending over with her hands on her stomach. A hand reached for the former delinquent, and, on the other end, Mamoru smiled gently to the boy.

"It was a good match, Homura-san!" He helped Andrus rise, and they both laughed. If there were any tension between the two of them, it seemed to have waned at that moment. "I'm sorry we'll have to treat them!"

"It was my fault, Chiba!" He walked away to a stand, meaning to get the snacks. "This friendship with you guys will make me bankrupt!" He exchanged stares with Ami and winked at her direction as he distanced himself.

"Such a silly boy..." Ami thought as she saw Andrus and Mamoru going to the stand.

"Andrus," Mamoru spoke in a serious tone as they walked towards the stand. "I think I have to apologize to you."

"What do you mean?" The _Yankee_ had a clue, but he thought it was better to let Mamoru speak his mind. It really seemed like the man needed, seeing how embarrassed and sullen he talked to Andrus.

"I might have said some hurtful things about you to Ami" Andrus clenched his fingers into a fist. He thought about the desolated stare the girl held, and the swollen eyes of one who had cried. It was difficult for him to hold back his anger, but he would do it for Ami and Usagi. "About your relationship. The thing is..." Mamoru's voice was full of remorse, which did not go unnoticed by Andrus. "...I have no idea why I said those things."

"Look, Mamoru" Andrus sighed, still irritated. "Don't worry about it. I know you guys got Ami's back. I get it! Maybe I'm still a little scary for some people. Just know that I'm doing my best to be the best for Ami-chan!"

"I noticed." The man smiled, extending his hand to the one Ami called a fireball. Mamoru knew that, deep down, he believed to some degree in the things he told Ami about the young man, but he would never dare to say it, as he knew it wasn't his place to do so.

Even worse, he had a good impression of Andrus from the time they fought Sine, which made him even more ashamed of that situation. Confusion took hold of Mamoru's thoughts from the moment he had left Ami in the hostel, as he had no clue as to why he would meddle in her affairs.

All of it bothered him deeply, and the worst part was that uneasiness of not knowing exactly what was making him so agitated. "And I've seen how happy she seems around you." He added as he felt it still wasn't enough to make amends for that whole situation. "I'll be cheering for you, my friend."

Andrus smiled as he shook hands with Usagi's boyfriend. Being called a friend was something the former delinquent truly appreciated. It felt like he earned the man's trust. It felt like acceptance, something much wanted by the Homura boy. "Thank you, Mamoru. But, you know, you really should apologize to Ami!"

"I will!" Mamoru took a deep breath. Andrus could see the true struggle in the man's eyes. He should have been really saying the truth about not knowing why he upset Ami to that point. Andrus wanted to ask Mamoru what exactly he said, but hesitated, as he had no confidence he could keep his cool if he heard whatever made Ami so sad.

As Ami awaited for the two young men to return from their snack hunt she exchanged a knowing look with Makoto, who just smiled as she realized that Andrus and herself were busted by the Soldier of Knowledge. Ami laughed, as a mean to thank her friend, ignoring the surprised gaze upon Mako's face. A pair of arms hugged Ami, who blushed and sighed, imagining her boyfriend had returned.

"You sure are fast, 'fireball', but what have we agreed on you hugging me all the time?" She held one of the arms embracing her, wondering how it was softer than before when they were in the water.

"I don't know" It wasn't Andrus' voice. The tone of the speech was a darker pitch, while Andrus', weirdly enough, had a higher intonation than that woman with golden hair. "Didn't realize you already had someone to hug you all the time, my book smart kitten!"

"Ha-Haruka?!" Ami was taken by surprise, blushing even harder. "Wha...Why?" She couldn't even form a proper phrase due to her shock. Seeing Michiru and Usagi laughing with the scene, she realized that her friend with the _odango_ shaped hairstyle had something to do with it. "Usagi put you up to this, huh?" Haruka laughed softly, elegantly as she was known for.

"She just told me to hug you and then we would be in for a surprise!" Haruka Tenoh was something Ami liked to call a "Cool Beauty". At first inspection the golden-haired young woman could be mistaken for a man with soft features, but, after a while, Ami saw how feminine Haruka could be in her own way. In a sense, Ami admired her fellow Sailor Soldier a lot for how self-assured and unafraid she was. "Tell me more about this 'fireball' of yours!"

"I...I mean..." That feeling, once again, Ami thought. She wondered if Haruka would look down on Andrus upon meeting him. She wondered if the cool Sailor Uranus would validate her relationship or not. It seemed so silly for her to think about those things. She knew it, but still, couldn't prevent it.

"Ami-chan." It was his voice. Time seemed to halt for a moment while the trio exchanged looks. Now, as Ami realized that Haruka still hadn't let go of her, just as Andrus arrived, she wondered how the boy would react. She knew for a fact that he used to have anger management issues, but would never think he would be jealous or could ever overreact in that kind of situation. "Who is this guy?" His tone was calm as usual, to which Ami seemed more relaxed.

"I'm Haruka Tenoh." The woman spoke with a confident smile taking hold of her. Michiru figured in that same instant what her partner had in mind. "You're this little kitten's boyfriend, right? You can call me your new rival!"

"Excuse me?" With his words, Ami panicked, immediately staring at Andrus, who seemed, at first, unaltered. "Ami-chan..." Andrus put down the snacks he was holding, with a mysterious look on his face. "This guy..." He hesitated, gripping his hand in a fist. Ami tried to release herself from Haruka's embrace, desperate to stop the red-headed boy. Haruka, on the other hand, held her closer, wondering if the young man was really that easily provoked. "How is he so cool?!"

"What?" Ami said, halting from her efforts to release herself. Haruka was also surprised.

"Haruka-san!" Andrus bowed down. "Please, teach me how to be that cool!"

"Are you deaf?" Haruka spoke, confused. "I just said that I'm going to try to steal Ami-chan from you!"

"And who could blame you?" Andrus smiled, his fiery eyes meeting Ami's peaceful blues. "Just look at her! So beautiful! So intelligent!" Ami smiled as her face turned into a crimson state due to his compliments. "That's why I need you to teach me how to be so cool, Haruka! I need some advantage here!"

Haruka laughed out loud, unable to believe what she was seeing. Could the boy had figured out she was just trying to tease him, so she could see what kind of person he was? If that was true, her test was useless. If not, she got a pretty good impression of that silly person who reminded her of a friendly girl with an _odango_ shaped hairstyle.

"Will you stop teasing the kids now, Haruka?" Michiru spoke in a soft voice, as she stood beside the woman with golden short hair. Andrus thought that the two of them seemed like something out of a classical painting with their graceful posture, and their sophisticated looks. They just waved goodbye and left, promising to return later to join the rest of the group.

"Did you..." Andrus spoke in a low voice with Ami. "Did you hear something like a soothing choir when they left?"

"With bell and chimes?" She said, in a similar tone.

"Exactly!" He snapped his fingers, still intrigued.

"Nope. Never!" Andrus looked at his girlfriend, who had a rare mischievous look upon her face.

"So..." He lazily stretched himself, still recovering from that much excitement for just a single evening. "Is he going to teach me how to be cool like that or what?"

"Andrus...Haruka is a girl!" As he heard those words, he stared at her with a concerned gaze in his eyes. She took a step back, disconcerted by the expression he held.

"Ah..." The boy seemed to be in awe as if he was trying to cope with that new information. "So what you're saying is that I must become a girl to be that cool!" Ami smirked, containing her laughter, as the boy spoke with seriousness in his voice. "Another challenge...I must overcome it!"

Chibiusa had been following Haruka and Michiru since they'd left the group after teasing Ami and Andrus. The small girl wondered why they were there. In the diary there was no mention of them at all, so she grew some suspicions about their presence at the beach. As she watched from afar, the couple seemed to be acting as their normal selves. They chattered and laughed, appearing to be having fun, although the pink-haired child couldn't listen to what they said.

Using all the stealth she could muster, she tried to sneak by the duo. As they stopped by a food stand, Chibiusa saw the perfect opportunity to hear their conversation, as she hid by the side of the stand.

"We've been walking for a while" Haruka spoke. The tone of her voice worried the child, as it seemed enveloped by a deep concern. "But there has been no sign of the dangers you predicted, Michiru." They proceeded to order a portion of _dorayaki,_ sweet red bean paste sandwiched between two sponge-like pancakes.

"Still, it might be no coincidence to see them here," Michiru said, knowing exactly where Haruka was heading with the conversation. "So we can't discard any possibility just yet." The food arrived in front of the duo, and a delicious smell entranced the little girl, who hadn't had a chance to eat since she left almost at the same moment Andrus and Mamoru arrived with the snacks. Her stomach growled, much to her embarrassment.

"That's right. We must keep our eyes open." Haruka smiled, leaning to her side with the food plate in her hands, surprising Chibiusa. "Is that alright for you, small one?" She said, offering her plate with the sweets.

She took one of the _dorayaki,_ eating it with a smile on her face. "Damn the hunger I inherited from Usagi for outing me!" Haruka and Michiru laughed, as the girl left her hiding place.

"Oh, we've known since you started following us." Michiru spoke in a cheerful voice, offering a seat next to her and Haruka. "So, you know more about why we are here than us, I suppose?"

"It's..." She hesitated, looking down as to avoid the stares of Sailor Uranus and Neptune. Chibiusa sighed, knowing she wouldn't be able to keep her secret for much longer. "I was attacked by witches yesterday."

"Witches?" The small child could feel the anger in Haruka's voice, and it was expected. "You mean like the ones Doctor Tomoe created?"

"No!" Chibiusa spoke in haste as a response to the blonde's wrath. "I mean...I guess not." The child was really uncertain about the whole ordeal. "They didn't seem like the Witches 5 at all!"

"And what did they want with you, Chibiusa?" Michiru, more collected than her partner, asked, still denoting her concern.

"One of them said they were hunting for Sailor Soldiers." The duo listened carefully for the small child's words. They exchanged a troubled gaze with each other that went unnoticed by the pink haired girl. "But, unlike the other one, she didn't seem too willing to do that!"

"Really?" Haruka wasn't at all surprised. The ability to see good in anyone was something else that the kid had inherited from her mother beside her famous hunger.

"Yeah." She took another bite of the _dorayaki,_ not even paying attention to the fact that she was the only one eating at that point. "The blonde one was really _really_ scary!"

"Is that so?" Michiru had a teasing tone in her voice that seemed to upset Haruka. "I can surely draw a parallel to some other blonde warrior!"

"Do you also think that Venus can be really scary if she wants to?" An excited Chibiusa caught the two soldiers off-guard, who laughed with the child's insinuation. It was especially funny considering that Minako was one of the kindest persons they'd ever met, second only to their princess Usagi. "Wh-what?" She said, slightly embarrassed.

"Nothing, child." Uranus patted the child's head. "So, any clue to where we might find those witches?"

"Ah, finally found you!" It was Atropos, or Melinda, as Merel introduced her. She had finally met with Ami and her party at the beach. It took a while to find the group of people the blue haired girl hung out with, but, at the moment, time wasn't something on the witch's mind. She had greeted Ami with an enthusiasm that started to wane at the same moment she realized the girl was surrounded by six other people. It intimidated the young woman.

"Melinda!" Ami saluted the girl with straw hat. "I'm glad you came! Let me introduce you to my friends!" She presented every single one of them, telling them that Melinda was also staying at the beach house they had settled. Ami informed them that the girl was also a student of Juuban, having transferred recently. They were nice, Atropos thought. It took her some time, but she eventually calmed down, feeling a lot more comfortable around those girls. Still, she kept her guard up just as a precaution.

"So, Melinda." It was the blonde girl with two _odango_ shaped buns on the side of her hair that spoke. "How are you liking Juuban High School?" Usagi was her name, Atropos tried to remember as the girl handed her a cup with a soft drink. "Hope your reception was better than Andrus'!"

"What do you mean?" Melinda said, crossing her arms. She was caught by surprise with Usagi's sudden interest in her. It made her suspicious, but also intrigued.

"You see, Juuban has its fair share of out-of-this-world events. On his first day of school, he was attacked by monsters!" Atropos, Ami, and Andrus nearly choked simultaneously with their beverages. Ami and Andrus couldn't imagine what on Earth Usagi was doing, talking about that so openly.

"R...Really?" The young woman said, embarrassed. "What do you mean?"

"It was weird, and we never heard much more about that after the event," Usagi said it in the most casual way possible. "All we know is that Sailor Moon and her friends saved the day!"

"Sailor Moon, huh?" The witch was a little annoyed by that talk, as it was her duty to destroy that "Sailor Moon and her friends". Would they consider her a monster as well if they knew what her mission was?

"Oh, my favorite is Sailor Jupiter!" Makoto joined the conversation, with a jovial and somewhat silly tone in her voice. "She is so strong! I wonder if I could ever face her in a pro-wrestling match!"

"That seems a little out of nowhere!" Atropos couldn't help but smile at the young woman with rose earrings. "And so specific!"

"I am really fond of Sailor Mercury myself!" Andrus kept it going as if he'd realized something. "Someone that smart and with such good taste can only be a great person!" Ami hid her face as if she was bothered by her boyfriend's words, which Atropos saw as a little disrespectful until she understood that it was part of their dynamic. He would tease her as much as he could, in a childish act.

"I wish I could sing along with Sailor Venus." Minako laughed, sighing in admiration. "I wonder if our voices would harmonize well!"

"My favorite one" Rei waited for her turn, and Usagi was actually surprised by her answer. "Has got to be Sailor Moon!"

"Really, Rei-chan?!" Usagi held the woman's hands, happy as she heard those words.

"Of course!" Rei laughed an ominous laugh, and all the other girls embraced themselves for what was to come. "Someone so silly and inept for everything has got to be really courageous, don't you think?"

"Oh, yeah?!" The reply prepared by the blonde girl with odango shaped buns had to be on par with the mockery of the shrine maiden. "My favorite one is actually Sailor Mars, with the power to become angry for no apparent reason, and teasing others just for fun!"

"I'm..." Atropos, or rather, Melinda interrupted the discussion. "I'm sorry!" She was clearly confused. "What are you guys doing?"

"They are being silly on purpose!" Mamoru said, saddened that he didn't get a chance to say his favorite was Tuxedo Mask. "To try and get you to drop your guard, so you'd know you don't have to be so serious all the time!"

"They did the same to me, at one point!" Andrus spoke, as he sat next to Mamoru and Usagi. Ami followed him right after. "And it seems to be working!"

"You have a smile on your face," As Ami spoke, Atropos realized that she was correct. She couldn't even remember the last time she smiled that way. "Although still a little shy, it looks good on you!"

"Th...thanks!" It was odd. She had just heard them praise her sworn enemies, the Sailor Soldiers, and still, she felt so good around them. Was that what Merel intended when she helped her get close to Ami? She had read some of Atropos' secrets, that was for sure, as she knew how much she wanted to have friends, something dear to the young witch, something which was denied since an early age.

"You think that girl might be the witch?" Sailor Uranus asked Chibi Moon. The trio, completed by Sailor Neptune, lurked the group from far away, avoiding any attention while still watching for their friends. They had been searching around for a while and only halted when Chibiusa noticed someone new among their party.

"Well, she isn't anywhere in my diary, for all I could search for." The child showed the notebook in a beaten up state, proving it wasn't that much of a reliable source, but it was the only one she had. "And it also didn't account for you guys..."

"So that's why you think she might be the point of convergence." Sailor Neptune completed her sentence, as she realized what the girl was trying to explain. "It is still a far cry, but we should keep an eye on..." Michiru didn't get the chance to finish, having to dodge a green orb that exploded right in front of her.

"You should keep an eye on me, darling!" A woman dressed in a uniform that looked like a mesh between the Sailor Soldier's battle suit and an ancient Spartan military attire showed herself in the open. The dark green dress was covered by a pitch black cloak. The woman also carried a staff in her hands, leaving no doubt of her identity in the Soldiers' minds.

"The witch!" Michiru spoke in an angry voice. She wasn't one to be intimidated, even though they could sense how dangerous that woman could be.

"'I heard you've been looking for me." The green haired witch had a contagious blissful voice, and all her movements denoted how excited she was. "My name is Merel, the mind reading green witch! And who might you be?"

 _Next: Easy Livin'_


	4. 04 - Easy Livin'

**04 – Easy Livin'**

"Sailor Neptune" Merel seemed calm, as she avoided one of Michiru's attacks. "Sailor Uranus" She spoke those words as a way to let the trio know she was able to read their minds. "And Chibimoon! Oh, so adorable!" The Sailor Soldiers couldn't deal a single blow to the witch, as Merel seemed to be able to anticipate any of their offenses.

"She is so fast!" Chibiusa yelled as they were grasping that Merel moved in an unpredictable manner. They realized she was leading them deeper into the woods that surrounded the beach as she fled. They couldn't let the woman escape, as she was their first clue.

Haruka was irritated by her inability to reach the green witch. All her punches and kicks missed by mere inches, but she was unable to see any way to hit her adversary. "It's not that! She said she is reading our minds!" The soldier halted her attacks, giving thought to what that meant.

"What?" Merel laughed, not trying to contain her joy as she gave the Sailor Soldiers a hard time. "Did you think I was bluffing?" She hit Sailor Uranus with her staff, following the blow with a green discharge of magical energy that launched the Soldier back, hitting Neptune and Chibi Moon on her way. "Oh, you did!"

The witch wasn't at all happy, though. Even if she could read their minds, her power was working only when it concerned to their attacks. She could prevent them, but was unable to dig deeper into their minds. "It must be their own powers preventing me to go further." She wondered.

"Deep Submerge!" Sailor Neptune attacked but to no avail. Merel released an amount of energy from her staff that launched herself to the skies. Green orbs of the witch's magic attacked the trio of Sailor Soldiers, who could barely dodge.

Haruka took a side step to evade one of the spheres of energy, realizing too late that Merel stood next to her. "What?" With a single touch from the witch, she felt a sudden numbness through her body. She couldn't make out the words Merel spoke, but she knew it had something to do with her current state. Desperation took hold of Sailor Neptune as she saw her battle suit turning into energy ribbons, signalizing she was powering down.

"A lover's heart, filled with bliss, can be knocked out colder than the witch's kiss!" Merel repeated the chant. The spell was able to disrupt Uranus Sailor Crystal, turning her back to her civil form. The gem that powered the Sailor Soldier floated in front of her, at Merel's reach.

Before she could get a hold of the Crystal, Haruka attacked the witch with a jab even though she had been stripped of her powers. Merel was so focused on the gem that she had no time to evade the woman's punch. Knocked down to the floor, the green witch lost control of the crystal, which powered Haruka once again.

"Tsc!" Merel smirked, cleaning the blood from the corner of her lips. "I guess I need a better spell!" She floated back after a graceful leap. "But you taught me a lot, Sailor Soldiers! I must thank you!"

"You won't escape!" Sailor Uranus yelled, charging energy on her first. "World Shaking!" The blast went right past Merel as the woman avoided her attacks once more.

"Oh, Haruka!" Her name on the witch's lips was dreadful. When the Sailor Soldier lost her transformation, Merel was finally able to read her mind. It was for a brief moment, but enough for discovering her name. "I'm sorry to leave you hanging, but we'll see you again in Juuban, I'm sure of that!" A green mist surrounded the witch, dissipating and leaving no trace of the mind reader. "We'll see you there!"

"Goddamn it!" Haruka punched the ground, frustrated. That battle was a complete failure for the Soldiers. Not only they haven't got a clue on the Witches' intentions and identities, but they proved to be no match for a single one of the new enemy, and, if the others were just as strong as Merel, they would be in serious trouble.

For Haruka it was even worse: Her pride as one of the strongest Sailor Soldiers made her even more angered by the total defeat. To find someone that much stronger than her made Sailor Uranus relive some horrid feelings she hadn't felt since the battle against Galaxia, the destroyers of galaxies and their strongest enemy to date. That impotence dragged her down and could make her spiral into despair. It wouldn't last though. Those warm hands on her shoulder were already making her better. Michiru always knew what to do and what to say.

"We'll get her next time." Sailor Neptune had a faint smile on her features. It wasn't a promise in vain, not at all, and Haruka knew that. Haruka was stubborn, but Michiru could be dreadful whenever she set her mind on something. "She only knew about your name after she took away your powers."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," Haruka said, regaining her confidence. "Which means her trick has its limitations. And I'll be sure to find them next time we fight!"

"That's more like you!" They exchanged smiles, regrouping with Chibiusa. It took a while for the trio to recover their calm, but they managed to confirm the witches situation. Haruka and Michiru were powerful allies, nonetheless, and it made the small child feel safer with them around. The legendary Sailor Soldiers on her time were an amazing force by themselves, and together it was said that they were unstoppable.

As the trio returned to the beach, Haruka took the lead on their next move. "We should go back to Juuban." It was obvious she was speaking to Michiru. Chibiusa let out a worried sigh, wondering if that was an actual good plan, or if the hurt pride of Sailor Uranus was taking hold of her. "The witch knows where we live, and it might be dangerous to leave it unattended."

"Small Lady." Michiru complemented her partner's train of thought. "I'm suspicious that the witch told us that she was targeting Juuban to divert our attention from the woman we were spying." Even though she was serious, she always had extra care with the child to make her feel comfortable, and the tone of her voice was a good indication of that posture. "You should stay and watch out for her. Merel said _'we'_ after all."

"Should I tell the others?" The girl was uneasy. In her mind, she wished the diary could give her more answers, but every time she consulted it and found some divergence, it only rose more questions.

"It's up to you to decide." Chibiusa's confidence waned as they talked about the situation. Without Haruka and Michiru around, it would all depend on her. "If you think there is imminent danger, I believe you should tell them."

"But if not" Haruka concluded Michiru's statement as if it was expected of her. "You might want to keep her oblivious to our actions. If she really is a witch, we don't want to give her an advantage. Your identities, as far as I can tell, are still a secret to the witches."

"Got it!" Chibiusa was fierce as they were about to meet with the rest of the party. She exchanged looks with the dark-haired woman she suspected was a witch. It was weird: the moment she saw her and her 'begging-to-be-accepted' eyes, she lost most of her will to accuse her. Usagi, upon seeing Chibiusa arriving with Haruka and Michiru, stood up to introduce them to Melinda, her new-found friend.

"Melinda, I'd like you to meet the most distinguished and elegant friends we have!" She leaned over Haruka and Michiru, flaunting them with high regards. "Haruka Tenoh and Michiru Kaioh!"

"Pleased to meet you!" She bowed, still fighting against her awkwardness. "So" She hesitated. "What are your favorite Sailor Soldiers?" She asked, wondering if that was really part of the dynamic of that group. The surprised look on the newcomer couple made Atropos anxious. They exchanged a swift gaze, answering as if in a haste.

"Sailor Uranus!" Michiru said, following her statement with a victorious mien taking a hold of her.

"Sailor Neptune!" Haruka cursed right after her answer, smiling at Michiru. "Beat me to it!". The group laughed at Haruka's false annoyance, leaving Atropos baffled, uncertain if what just happened could count as an inside joke she wasn't aware off. It didn't matter, though, as she felt those moments were easing her into that peculiar group. She was really happy, after all.

"Well, I hate to say goodbye, my friends" Haruka proceeded with the plan. "But we are needed back at Juuban." As she spoke those words, with an unnatural emphasis on their destination, she stared at Melinda to see if she had any reaction to that information. The girl didn't respond at all as if Haruka wasn't talking to her. Usagi, on the other hand, sobbed with that announcement. "It was great to meet the new faces." She bowed, elegantly as usual.

They bid the rest of the group with their goodbyes, not taking a single moment more than they thought it was needed. They had walked a small portion of the beach back to their car when they listened to a high pitched voice calling their names aloud. As they turned back, the red-headed boy was chasing them with a concerned look.

"So you're really going back?" Andrus asked. "Without teaching how to be as cool as you?"

"R...Really?" Haruka asked. They were both shocked and in complete disbelief. Whatever doubt they had about the boy's character after the test earlier that day, it had waned with his troubled voice and hopeful stare. Maybe he really believed he needed 'some advantage'. Michiru was the first one to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand. It was a discrete and soft snicker, as she realized that boy reminded her of one of her beloved friends. "Why are you so adamant about this?"

Andrus insecurities rose stronger than ever after his talk with Mamoru. Whatever he'd said to Ami about him, it was enough to make the girl go down in a spiral of sadness. Andrus wondered what they discussed, and all alternatives left him anxious and worried.

He knew that he wasn't up to the task of being her boyfriend. He knew he was different from everyone else in the group. Andrus was, after all, a reformed Yankee. He had been a delinquent, and now, he was afraid of losing what he considered the best thing that had happened to him because of his inadequacies from that period.

"I want to have more to offer her!" His voice was determined as if being as suave as Haruka had become a mission. He looked back at the beach, catching a glimpse of Ami's face. She smiled and laughed with her friends. The sadness across her features seemed to have faded for good. Maybe his relationship with Ami was destined to end sometime, he couldn't know, but he wasn't about to just stand and watch it crumble.

"I wish she could have seen you now!" Haruka said with a smile on her face. "Your heart is in the right place, Homura!" She rested a hand on his shoulder. It felt like a gesture of respect. "Maybe if you stop second guessing yourself you can become as cool as you want!" They turned their backs to him, leaving the unsatisfied boy behind, reminiscing on those departing words.

As they walked, Michiru leaned her head on Haruka's shoulder. "You sure do know how to look cool, Haruka!" Michiru teased as she entranced her lover's arm with her own. "Maybe you _should_ teach it, after all..."

"We have no time for that." She let out a soft laugh. Michiru was great at making her feel safe, even with a dire situation like that on their hands. A gust of wind crossed their paths, making Haruka halt and take one last look back at the beach. "Also, there's a storm coming."

The evening came and with it came the rain. It caught the girls by surprise, but not before they could have had a delightful day at the beach. They played and talked and ate all they could. The stormy night was actually a thankful rest for the group.

Atropos was back at her room reminiscing the day while she watched the rain pouring down. She had so much fun she still couldn't believe it. She really didn't want to leave the group, but she also couldn't figure a way to keep them around for much longer without becoming a nuisance. She should thank Merel as soon as they met again.

She was pouring some tea on a cup when a knock startled her. "The door?" She thought, opening it with caution. To her surprise, a blonde head popped into her room, as Usagi fell on the ground while she was trying to listen inside the room, wondering if Melinda was really there. Behind her, the rest of the group, minus the boys and the small child, stood outside the room, almost as surprised with that turn of events as Atropos was.

"Ami!" Atropos couldn't hide her excitement when she saw those girls at her door. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well!" Usagi frowned, bothered with her fall, as she picked herself up. "It's still too early to go to bed, so we thought we could pay you a visit!" She laughed, a little nervous about what Melinda's answer would be. "Chibiusa fell asleep, she was just too tired."

"I understand her!" Atropos said, cheerful. "I'm beaten to a pulp! I have never had so much fun before!"

"Oh!" Ami said, concerned about Melinda's state. "We're sorry! If you're too tired we can go..."

"NO!" Atropos was surprised with the way she sounded. She just didn't want to lose that opportunity of hanging out some more with those girls. "No, don't go!" She recomposed herself, opening a large smile. "I'd love to spend some time with you! Please, come in!" She opened the door so Ami, Makoto, Rei, and Minako could also enter. "I'll make you some tea!"

"We brought some sweets!" Makoto said as she brought a bowl with some cake and other sweets she had baked before they left Juuban.

"And some games!" Minako was carrying a few tabletop games they could play. Atrops was overwhelmed and at the same time she couldn't, or rather wouldn't stop. She helped move the furniture in her room so Minako and Rei could set up the game, and also helped Ami prepare the tea for everyone. In no time they were playing, laughing, as an extended part of that day.

"So, Usagi" Minako was moving her piece across the board. "Are you and Mamoru going to marry after you graduate High School?" That question had been on each of the girl's mind for a while. They knew for a fact that it was Usagi's dream.

"Marriage?" Atropos asked, actually surprised she said it out loud. "Aren't those girls still young for that?" She thought to herself. She then wondered if she should ask that same question out loud, but, before she could, Usagi was already answering.

"I know, I know!" She said, slightly embarrassed. "We might be too young for that, but we love each other so much." Her abashed smile turned into a spoiled pout. "And we've been together for a while, so marriage seemed like the natural course."

"But..." Makoto asked, wondering where this conversation was headed from Usagi's reactions.

"But Mamoru says he's only going to marry me after we both graduate from college!" Usagi sobbed, burying her face in her knees. Ami tapped her shoulder, and Atrops almost heard the consolation words the girl whispered to her friend.

"Wow!" Rei had this weird tone on her voice: most of it was sympathetic to her friend, but a part of it was entertained with the situation Mamoru had arranged. "He put you up against the wall there, didn't he?"

"What are you going to do, then?" The situation was confusing for Atropos, but she was still able to feel empathy for the girl with a peculiar hairstyle.

"I guess I don't have much choice!" Usagi sighed. "But I still have no idea what I should do!"

All of them remembered their talk right at the last day of vacations before their final year of high school had started. It seemed that Usagi's conflict had persisted to this day and she was lost without an answer.

The uncomfortable silence reigned supreme over the room. It felt awkward, but someone had to break that quiet state. Minako took a deep breath and turned to Ami. "Ami-chan! What about all those scars Andrus have?!" An embarrassed smile twitched on the blonde's face, as she tried not to raise any suspicions. It was silly of her, as it was obvious she tried to divert the topic from Usagi. The girls laughed at Minako's dismay, and even the ditzy Usagi realized what she tried to do.

"I noticed them as well" Makoto spoke, trying to keep the topic going. When he went swimming they thought they saw some scars, but only when he and Ami got out of the water they could see how many they were, and it shocked them. "Are all of those from his time as a Yankee?"

"A Yankee?" Atropos asked. It might have been the first time the girls realized Melinda most certainly wasn't Japanese.

"Oh!" Ami intervened, taking the cue to answer all questions. "A Yankee is how we call juvenile delinquents." She took a breath, as that topic still shook her. "My boyfriend really used to be a delinquent when he was younger, but he has been regenerated and keeping out of trouble for a long time now."

"He still looks dangerous." Atropos didn't try to hide her condemning tone of voice before she took a long sip of her tea. Ami just brushed it off as one of her traits as she was getting to know the dark haired girl better.

"He does." Ami agreed, in her most gentle voice, before continuing. "Most of his scars are really from his time as a Yankee." The way she phrased it made it clear to the other Sailor Soldiers that some of the marks he held were from after he discovered his powers as a Dream Walker. Probably from the fight against Baku, as he had told them, and also from the Dream Reapers situation. He was only human, after all. Unlike them. That sudden remembrance bothered Ami, although she couldn't figure why. "But, weirdly enough, he told me there is a scar near his stomach that he has no clue of how he got it. I checked it out, and it looked like he took a nasty stabbing in the area, and to have no recollection of that...it's weird, isn't it?" She shared the mystery her boyfriend told her, and her innocent heart could never predict the malicious stares directed at her. "W...What?"

"So you _checked_ his scars before, huh?" Minako was the first one to tease her often shy friend. "Tell us more about it!"

"No, I..."

" _Where_ were you when he decided to 'show his scars', Ami-chan?" Usagi took the next turn to provoke her even more. Ami's face turned into a violent red. It was all really innocent. She noticed one of the scars on his arm, it was a hot day, after all, and he told her about the mysterious wound. She did feel awkward and embarrassed when he showed her, but her medic nature was also curious to see. She knew they wouldn't forgive her even if they would let her speak and tell the truth, though.

"Anyway!" Ami said, trying to revert the situation. "You still haven't told us anything about the mysterious kouhai you met earlier today, Mako-chan!"

"I..." Melinda was amused as she saw Makoto, the taller of the group, the one that appeared the strongest and more collected of them all, shrugging with embarrassment.

"Come on!" Usagi joined Ami, as she was the most curious of them all. "Tell us!"

"Jinchuu is a childhood friend of mine! And also an underclassman from my old school." She remembered that fateful meeting while they were headed to Usagi's house. The boy with long dark hair caught her by her arm, and, at first, she didn't recognize him. After he spoke to her, she realized it was her neighbor from the time she lived at Shounan. "He used to be a real cry-baby, and I would always step in to defend him. So we grew closer. But that's all!"

"Didn't seem like it, by the look on his face!" Minako always enjoyed putting her friends on those defensive spots, but the times she could do that to Makoto were rare, as she usually embraced those moments. Also, the way Makoto behaved earlier at the bus station worried Minako, so she decided she would play with the situation as a way to get her friend to talk about it. "I bet he truly admired whenever you would save his ass, and now, all grown up, he might be wanting to show you he can defend himself."

"Maybe!" Makoto sighed. "Although I never once doubted that." As a faint smile rose upon Makoto's face, they realized there was something important about that boy.

Atropos enjoyed that situation. It was fun to see those girls interacting with each other, and, even though she had a lot of catching up to do, she felt really happy to be part of such a high-spirited group, even at moments like those. It was all new and different for her.

Suddenly, she caught a glimpse of the corridors through the partially open door, and for a moment she thought she saw the infamous scar wounded Andrus walking past the room with something on his hand. Intrigued, she got up and started following him, leaving the girls behind without uttering a single word.

He was by the beach, carrying a wooden sword. "Troglodyte!" Atropos thought as she saw him. Andrus stood still with a guarding stance for a while, then proceeded on to a series of _kendo_ exercises. Every move, every attack, displaced a bundle of raindrops that kept falling as if they were the boy's enemies. It was powerful, more than Atropos could imagine a human being possible to achieve. He was dangerous, after all. That's what she wanted to believe. At the same time, he didn't seem as scary as she told Ami. He was nowhere near the demon Atropos feared, even with the growling roar he uttered after every blow. Could she have been mistaken?

An umbrella suddenly covered her from the rain. Ami stood right next to her. "I saw him leaving as well, so I thought I would check on him to avoid more of the girl's interrogatory, even though Makoto is now the target!" They both chuckled, watching him train. "Usagi was telling the truth: He was attacked by monsters on his first day at school." Ami reminisced. It felt so long ago, even though it had been mere months. "Sailor Moon and the others saved not only him but us too. Still, he always felt he could have done more in that situation, that's why he carries his sword around and train whenever he can."

"But why?" Ami sensed Melinda's conflict in her voice. "Is it some kind of hero's complex?" Nothing seemed right for the witch at that point. The horrors she expected seemed really far-fetched. The demon itself seemed to be only as dangerous as an angry kid could be. The Sailor Soldiers, their enemies, were praised by everyone that Atropos seemed to care about.

"From what I gathered since we started dating," Ami sighed. Atropos could see true preoccupation crossing her friend's face. "It's something like that." She reminded of how much guilt he felt after beating his best friend at the time. Ami remembered how recklessly he entered Sine's palace when he thought they could be in trouble, almost getting himself killed in the process. For her, there was obviously a connection between that traumatic event and his behavior.

"He will never be strong enough to defeat any monster by himself!" Atropos knew the witches were powerful enough to defeat Sailor Moon and her friends. If they so intended, the demon would die a horrible and painful death at their hands. That's why she felt sorry for Ami. That's why she got closer: to try and prevent, or at least diminish, the sorrow that would fall over them when they actually murdered the boy. That's why she was so angry: No demon should have a hero's complex. No demon could be this weak.

"I know" Atropos caught Ami's worries by the way her friend spoke those words. "I...We almost lost him last time." She would never forget how the darkness took over his eyes, and how Sine left a mere empty shell of the boy after her devastating attack. Ami still felt guilty, even when he tried to tell her it was not her fault. "Melinda, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Atropos said casually, as she barely gave any thought about what Ami could mean to ask her, so it came as a surprise when she heard the following words.

"You had some experience with monsters before, haven't you?" Atropos froze in time. What was Ami implying? How could she know anything about that? The same anxiety that took over the witch when she first met Ami was returning, and now there was no sign of Merel to help her.

"What do you mean?"

"Your reaction when Usagi talked about Andrus' encounter was of genuine surprise," Ami spoke with the particular over analyzing speech pattern of someone giving a lecture "But the follow up to that information caught my attention: You accepted that with such ease that it made me think something similar had happened to you." An uncomfortable silence tortured Atropos, who started to tremble. "Am I right?"

"Ami, I-" She didn't know if it was Ami's friendship that made her come clean, or if she was just tired of the pressure and the lies. "My hometown was attacked by a demon." She stared at Andrus. The boy was still practicing, oblivious to their presence. "He killed my family, my friends! He made me wish I could go back in time and murder him a thousand times!"

"Oh, Melinda!" Ami was so caught up in her detective skills that she never thought her friend's experience could be so devastating. "I'm sorry!" Without knowing what to do, Ami let go of the umbrella she was carrying and embraced the girl, that stopped shaking. Atropos, for the first time since the incident, let her guard down and started crying. She had been bottling those feelings since before she came to Juuban to hunt down her dreaded demon, and now, in the arms of her first friend in a long time, she felt like the rage, the hatred, and the frustration were all leaving her mind along with the tears.

She let go of Ami, realizing how her weakness could have been perceived. Atropos built enough strength to recompose herself, finally able to look at her friend. "That's okay." She tried to sound composed, even though her voice cracked at first. "He will get what he deserves, Ami! I'm sure of it!" Atropos felt uncomfortable. For the first time since she met Ami, she felt like being alone was the best option. "I'm actually really tired, so I'm going to go back to the hostel, ok?"

"I'll go with you-" Guilt took over Ami, and it made her want to stay by Melinda's side to help her cope with the sorrow that was afflicting her friend. Still, Melinda just waved in her direction, which made Ami halt.

"Don't worry!" Her voice had no emotion as she tried to fake a smile. "I just need some time to breath, Ami. I'll be okay!" She didn't wait for an answer, leaving as she felt the pressure building up once again. Ami watched the young woman leave, feeling terrible for bringing up such a drastic topic in that casual manner.

She stood there for a while, just watching the hostel from afar until she felt a presence beside her. "Don't you mind the rain?" He asked. Ami brushed away her thoughts, turning to Andrus, who was standing right next to her.

"I could ask you the same thing." She tried to cheer up, but the look on his face gave away that she wasn't having much success.

"Never did." Andrus answered. He was actually enjoying that storm. It was a display of nature's raw power that had always amused him. It was cathartic to let himself give in to the anger boiling up inside him and release all that energy through his training. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Melinda and I saw you leaving, and I guess we both wondered where you were headed."

"She seems like a good girl."

"Yeah..." Ami hesitated on telling him more about the whole demon situation with Melinda as she herself didn't know what to with that information.

"What's bothering you, Ami?" It wasn't rare the times he wouldn't use honorifics with her. Ami always thought it was some kind of reflex since in Brazil they haven't got anything similar. Coincidentally or not, those were the times Andrus would sound most genuine and honest.

"I just hope she'll be okay." She looked at him and he rested one of his hands on her shoulder. "She tries to hide it, but I think she's carrying a lot of emotional baggage."

"She'll be fine!"

"How can you be so sure?"

"The moment you took interest in her was the same moment I was sure she would be fine." Andrus spoke with such ease and certainty that Ami had a hard time doubting him. "I know you girls for barely more than two months, and I already can tell that it's the way you do things! Therefore, she'll be fine!"

She hugged him tight, surprising the boy. His words actually made her feel better and confident she could help Melinda. Sailor Moon and the Sailor Soldiers could take care of the demon she spoke about, while Ami and the rest would help Melinda cope with her trauma. "Thanks, Andrus!" She leaned into him, and he kissed her. A simple kiss, one that both craved since earlier that same day, was enough to transmit her gratitude to him.

"Anytime, Ami-chan!"

"So," She smiled, easing up at last. "You were training?"

"Yes!" He laughed, still somewhat embarrassed as he got caught in the act. "I needed to blow some steam, and I also need to become stronger!"

"You know you are already stronger than most people, right?"

"I do," His voice was filled with determination. "But if there is any trouble in the future, I want to be able to help!" He leaned the wooden sword on his shoulder, taking a deep breath as if he was making some calculations. "I guess I could at least take on the Bakhtak if we'd ever fight again!"

"Hey!" Ami caught his attention with her cheerful statement. "I remember you landing a few blows when we fought him together!"

"That's because you distracted him with your beauty and grace!"

"So you punched him in the face!" They both laughed. She knew he was going for that silly rhyme he read once somewhere, so she anticipated the line. "I guess we make a good team, Andrus!"

"Yeah..." He was still smiling, but his mellow voice rose some suspicions to Ami. "About that..."

"What about it?" She asked, unaware of his intentions.

"Ami," He was serious. She had seen him this serious before, and it was always about huge things. Last time she saw him with that gaze in his eyes was the night before the recovery exams. Remembering that night made her blush with the thought of him suggesting to sleep with her once more. Her analytic mind went through all possibilities, even considering his proposition and trying to figure out the 'hows' and 'wheres' of it all. "I've been thinking a lot about what Chibiusa said."

"What?" Ami was caught off-guard, once again. "What do you mean?"

"I want to marry you!" He couldn't even look straight into her eyes. He had been struggling with that thought for so long that if he hadn't said it at that moment he feared he would never be able to. Her silence, though, was gently killing the young man. "I love you so much, that, every day, the mere act of greeting you makes me utterly happy! I can't imagine my life without you in it anymore."

"Andrus," She was baffled. Never in a million guesses she could have conjectured he would think about those kinds of things. "I don't know what to say! I really meant it when I said we were too young to even think about it."

"I know," He sighed, taking one hand to the nape of his neck, flustered about his own proposal. "I guess I'm not saying that we should marry now, or after we graduate high-school or college." He was finally able to make eye contact with her once again. The smile on his face showed her that he was talking from his heart. "I'm saying that, if I had to decide at this very moment what person I wanted to be with for the rest of my life, it would be you, Ami-chan!"

"I can't say the same..." She couldn't stop those words from coming out of her mouth. She couldn't stop his face and his smile from turning into a blank stare. "Andrus, I love you too! I do!" She took a step back, trying to recompose herself and explain what she meant, even if he wouldn't understand. "It's just that I can't say that, at this moment, I want to spend the rest of my life with you! I'm a Sailor Soldier imbued with the task of protecting Usagi, my princess!" There was desperation in her voice, as she knew she was shooting him down in flames. "I want to study medicine, and I might have to study abroad to surpass every barrier on my path! Having a boyfriend wasn't even on my top 10 list of priorities at this moment, and-"

"I," He interrupted her with a wave of his hand. After brushing his soaked hair with his fingers, he took her hand. The rain was thinning down by that time. "That's okay, Ami!" A smile grew on his face, unexpected to her. "Really."

"Andrus..." She couldn't just ignore her worries. It was a big deal, and she had just blown his confession to dust. She knew she was overthinking and over-analyzing, but she also knew it was her way to be completely honest with him. It was what he deserved, after all.

"I mean it!" He knew she was feeling bad about turning him down. He needed her to know how he felt. "I'm actually pretty damn happy with your answer."

"Really?" A puzzled look came upon Ami's face.

"Really!" He laughed, trying to shrug off his embarrassment. "If having a boyfriend is, I don't know, number twentieth on your list of priorities, I can only be happy with you breaking that order just to date me!"

"Having a boyfriend is ranked thirtieth on my list." She shyly said.

"Oh god! I think I might cry!" They stared at each other for a while, breaking into laughter soon after. Her honesty might not have been the answer Andrus was expecting, but it sure felt good to hear a different kind of confession from her.

"So, surrogate teacher of the _Homura Ryuu_ dojo," She took the wooden sword from his hands, striking a pose. "Will you teach me a few moves?" He laughed, positioning himself behind her and holding her hands to show the basic strikes.

"Only if you explain to me what you meant when you said Usagi was _your princess_!" It was the first time Andrus asked for deeper explanations about their Sailor Soldier's conditions after the Dream Reapers occurrence. Since Sine, Ami felt really good for having someone to talk about that part of her life.

"Deal!" His lessons started, and her lecture began. Both with lighter hearts after that conversation. Both really proud of themselves and of each other for handling that situation the best way they could conceive. Both of them unaware they were being watched by the witch named Cassandra, the one who could manipulate feelings at her will.

 _Next: The Spell_


	5. 05 - The Spell

**05 – The Spell**

Atropos woke on the next morning with a splitting headache. Albeit she had told Ami she was going to be all right, she cried for hours until she was able to sleep. Her night and dreams were filled with the memories of the monster with crimson hair tearing her village apart, killing her friends and family without remorse, and, in a burst of rage, awakening the young witch's powers. Figuring out her newfound abilities, she started wondering if there could be anyone else like her who could help her stop the demon. That's when she found out about the Incantation of witches commanded by the High Priestess.

And so she began her journey to find them. It felt like it all happened so long ago that she had forgotten how she came in contact with those witches in the first place. She also forgot that Usagi and the others were in her room, and when she came back from the beach, the four girls were sleeping on her queen-sized bed, also joined by Chibiusa, The child must have woken up all alone and decided to find the other girls. Seeing there would be no space for her on the bed, Atropos slept on the floor. As she saw the five of them crammed into the bed, she had to contain her laughter as to not wake her new friends while she stood up and went to the bathroom. She needed a hot shower after that tiresome day. When she opened the door, Ami was standing right in front of it, ready to knock.

"Ami!" Atropos was abashed with the thoughts of the night before. She feared she had told Ami too much about herself and her adversities. "Look...I'm sorry about yesterday!"

"Don't mind that, Melinda!" Ami spoke, trying to brush away her own embarrassment. "I think I'm the one who should be apologizing! I didn't mean to take your hardships for granted!"

"Ami," Atropos sighed in a tired fashion. "I think both of us apologize too much for our own good!" She smiled an easy smile as she tried to let go of her pain, at least for that moment.

A second of silence took over them, followed by a soft laughter from the two girls. They were very much alike in that matter, as both Ami and Atropos felt really insecure about their friendships and their maintenance, sometimes going overboard with their caution. "The weather cleared up!" Ami said, cheerful. That was the other reason she looked for Melinda. "I was thinking we could all go on a trail!"

"Sounds fun!" Atropos spoke gently. "I just need to take a quick shower!"

"No need to rush!" Ami peeked inside Melinda's room, seeing her friends fast asleep. "We still have to wait for Usagi and the others to wake up!" They laughed once again, which seemed to be a sign of things turning back to normal.

"So that's where they slept!" Mamoru joined the conversation. He appeared to be high spirited after the tensions from the day before. Ami still had problems facing him directly, and he noticed. Melinda had a strange look on her face as well, which made Ami wonder if her discomfort was that evident.

"They paid me a visit last night!" Melinda spoke, trying to brush away the awkwardness surrounding them. "We had so much fun together, that we all ended up crashing at my room!"

"I just hope they weren't too troublesome!"

"Oh, not at all!" Atropos took a last look at her room before heading to the bathroom. "Yesterday was the most fun I've had in a long time! And all thanks to you!"

Mamoru and Ami watched the young woman walk into the bathroom, realizing at that point that the two were by themselves. "So, you were right," Mamoru said as if those words were begging to be spoken. "Andrus is actually a cool guy. And I can see he likes you a lot!"

"Yeah." Ami still wasn't feeling too comfortable to talk about it with Mamoru, especially after the incident of the day before.

"He never went back to the room, though," Mamoru added, with a sudden concern taking over him. "At least I don't think he did."

"Truth is," Ami realized that Mamoru was probably worried something could have happened to Andrus, so she told him about the night before. "I saw him leaving with his wooden sword. He was practicing all night."

"With all that rain?" Ami just nodded her head positively, enjoying Mamoru's shock and awe. "He's relentless when he wants to be, huh?"

Ami and Mamoru laughed, ignoring the woman who stood at the end of the hall. Cassandra, the witch with short red hair stood watching them, realizing her victim was about to arrive. And it felt like he had brought the whole power of the storm with him.

"What are you two laughing about now?" Andrus said with a tone neither Mamoru nor Ami, had heard before. It was somewhat disgusted and angered at the same time.

"Good morning, Andrus!" Mamoru extended his hand, trying to ignore the tension that arose.

"Did she tell you about my proposal?" The former yankee gripped his hands tight in a fist. "Is it that funny to you?"

"You proposed to her?" Mamoru laughed. Andrus clenched his teeth, annoyed. "That must have taken a lot of guts, right?" Mamoru rested his hands on Andrus' shoulders. Ami noticed that Mamoru's tone of voice wasn't the same as usual. She had never heard him sound so condescending. There was something odd in that situation. She felt nervous that one of them could make a bad decision. She couldn't believe when Andrus' fist encountered Mamoru's face.

With a punch, Mamoru was knocked down to the floor. Andrus knelt on top of him and pounded his face with violent blows. "Why aren't you laughing now?" He raged, breaking Mamoru's guard with his attacks. His voice cracked and it was loud enough to wake up the girls at Melinda's room.

Mamoru defended himself the best he could, but Andrus wouldn't stop. He managed to hit the _yankee_ with a punch that appeared out of nowhere, breaking the young man's nose in the process. The pain and the blood dripping on his shirt wasn't enough to stop the enraged Andrus, though.

Makoto grabbed Andrus and threw him into the back of the hallway with ease. He finally seemed to snap out of his rage. The pleads of Ami and Usagi, begging for him to stop, took a while to make sense in his head. He realized they tried to stop him a few times, but in his anger, he just couldn't make out the words they were speaking. His body was trembling, his breath had lost its rhythm and his vision was still blurry. His stomach was turning and revolting against him. It had been long since the last time he blacked out due to pure rage.

"Andrus," Makoto belted those words still in shock. "What the hell are you doing?!"

"I..." He couldn't find the words to explain himself. He looked at Mamoru, seeing the damage he caused, and a feeling he had known for a while took a hold of him: it was self-disgust, regret, sorrow for not being able to control himself. Andrus had trouble figuring out why was he so mad to begin with, let alone why would he lash out that way. But it didn't matter. He failed. At the same moment of the punch, he had crossed a line he vowed never to cross again.

He stood up unable to face any of them. He couldn't stare at either Usagi's nor Ami's faces and see their tears rolling down. Without a word, he went back to his room and moments later he had returned with his luggage. "I'm going home." The emotionless voice was disturbing. Ami saw his trembling hands and also how his body wouldn't stop shaking. All of his movements were feeble and slow. She wanted to stop him, she wanted for them to talk, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She was in shock.

Makoto and Usagi helped Mamoru up. He was not injured that badly, but Andrus' attacks would leave a mark for a while. Gasping for air, Mamoru slowly recomposed himself. "What's the matter with him?"

"I can't believe Andrus would burst out that way!" Makoto's heartbeat rushed as she tried to understand what had just happened. All of them exchanged looks, knowing exactly what the others were thinking.

He was sitting on the bench near the bus stop, staring at his hands in disbelief. He gazed upon the shirt with bloodstains from his broken nose. Unable to control himself, he watched drops of tears falling to his palms. He felt nauseated, and a buzz on his mind was taking all of his sanity away. He just couldn't understand what made him snap like that. Was it the tone of Mamoru's voice? Was it the shame of the proposal that blew up on his face? All of that didn't bother him that much the day before, so how come those things could have pushed him over the edge?

He wiped the tears from his face with his forearm, covering his eyes with his hands as he noticed someone approaching. "I thought Ami would be one to follow me," He tried to force a gentle smile, but it wasn't good enough to calm Chibiusa. "Though I'm glad it's you."

"Why is that?" The child sat next to him. She could see that his eyes were swollen from crying, even though he tried to hide it.

"Because you don't know me well enough for me to have disappointed you too much, I guess." A dry laugh followed.

"You're not a bad guy, Andrus!" Chibiusa pleaded. She wasn't only trying to make him feel better. The guilt he was feeling, the crushing pressure against his spirit, she shared it with him. Chibiusa wondered if this all had been caused by her actions. To find forgiveness for him was to find the same for herself. "What happened there, it's not who you are!"

"And how would you know?" He sighed as he lifted his legs and rested them on the bench, burying his face on his knees. Chibiusa was at a loss. She could reveal him all about the witches. She could tell him about why she was back in the past. It killed her to see her friend like that. The image of future Mercury crying resonated once more in her mind and was enough for her to make a decision.

"I-" Andrus rose his head when she began to talk. The look on his face startled the small child. It was pure anger. It was the same look he had when he attacked Mamoru.

"You don't know anything about me!" He walked away from the bench. Away from Chibiusa. "None of you know!" His voice growled with rage, and his figure started looking more and more threatening. Chibiusa's hands shivered without control.

"Andrus!" She cried. "You're not a bad guy!" She repeated as if it was a mantra. "You can't be!" She was terrified of him, even though she firmly believed she had no reason to.

"Just get out of here!" He pointed to the hostel's direction. "Just leave me alone!" She stared at him in disbelief. "NOW!" He yelled, and she could do nothing but run away. He saw her tears but wouldn't move. He was alone once again. As it was meant to be.

A few moments after Chibiusa left, Andrus heard a voice directed towards him. "I thought the kid would never leave!" It wasn't a voice that Andrus recognized. He turned to see the beautiful redheaded woman staring at him. A sudden dread took hold of him. It was a familiar sensation. "I don't like hurting the innocent, you know!" The woman with a dark cloak concealing her body spoke as if she knew Andrus, but the boy was far from understanding what was happening. "So she was a nuisance. Now we can have fun, my despicable demon!"

"Who are you?" He stood on guard even though it was difficult for him to maintain his stance. "What are you talking about?"

"My name is Cassandra." She said in bliss for the fight that was about to start. "I'm a witch with powers to manipulate people's emotions." She walked towards the young man who took a step back as a precaution.

"What do you mean?" The confused boy asked as he tried to figure out what was going on.

"You see, I can make people feel deeper emotions than they allow themselves." She waved her hand and with a light beam she created an image depicting Chibiusa running to the hostel and crying all the way back. "Like the girl who now fears the boy she admired." The image changed, now showing Mamoru being treated by Usagi. "Or the honored man that now knows he can be mean and harsh." It changed next to Andrus. "Or the cautious boy who has so much anger bottled up that can lash out at anyone if I press the right buttons!"

"You did this?" He couldn't believe it, even though all he wanted was an excuse for acting like the monster he always tried to tame.

"Oh, angry again?" She laughed as she read his emotions. "You really have a lot of that inside you, don't you?"

"You did this to me?" A distorted smile crossed his complexion. "You did this to them..."

"Come on, now." She was starting to get bored with that exchange. "It's not like you're all that noble, to begin with!" Cassandra waved both of her hands, casting a new spell on him. "I did them a favor! Now be a good boy and fear me, so we can end this quickly!"

"Fear you?" He laughed, grabbing the wooden sword attached to the side of his backpack. "I'm going to destroy you!" He leaped across the distance separating them attacking with a vertical slash that the witch dodged with ease.

"Wow!" Cassandra landed on her feet, away from Andrus. "Your anger is so powerful that you are able to resist my spell?" She snickered as she gathered energy on her hands. "Should have expected that from the demon itself!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about, but you messed with the wrong guy!" He charged against her for a new attack. "You messed with my friends as well!" His banter was in vain, though. With unexpected finesse, Cassandra dodged his attack once again, delivering a powerful blow to his stomach with the energy she harnessed. His limbs felt weak, his body gave in to the pain. He could see the sky before he blacked out.

"I can't believe you!" Ami surprised everyone with that outburst. They were back at the girls' room, where they could have more privacy. Melinda met them halfway to the room but decided not to interfere with their business, seeing that something had happened. Atropos knew it had something to do with the demon, so it was better for her not to meddle with that affair for now. "Are you really thinking that, because he was a Yankee, Andrus would sooner or later blow up like that?"

"Ami-chan," Makoto rested a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "That's not it. He himself admitted having that kind of anger problems before!"

"Not like that!" She brushed away Makoto's hand. "I know he was angry, but he was angrier yesterday and didn't do a thing about it!"

"Maybe he held it inside of him for too long and today was just too much for him to resist!" Rei intervened. She also tried to find a reason for what had just happened. She had a lot of sympathy for Andrus since they both used to talk about their families and their issues.

"He didn't!" Ami never sounded so desperate. She just couldn't understand why none of them would listen to her.

"Ami-chan, maybe you're trying to find excuses for him since you like him that much." Minako was wary when she spoke as she didn't mean to hurt her friend's feelings. "But he did put one of his friends in a coma in the aftermath of a rage burst just like that one!"

"He fought Sine," Ami's voice lowered. "He helped us defeat the Dream Reapers!"

"Ami, listen..." Mamoru was stunned by Ami's words and attitude. He never saw her like that.

"No!" She stepped back. "I know him, ok? I know that he decided to use his powers to help because he feels guilty for all that he has done! I know that he put himself in danger without a second thought because he believes he doesn't deserve to be alive, or happy, because of the horrible things he did! And I know that he is trying his hardest not to let those things bring him down! So that's why I say that there is something wrong here! Our friend would never do something like that! _My_ Andrus would never make that mistake again!"

Ami was out of breath after that speech. She had nothing more to say. If they wouldn't believe her, she would prove by herself that something was wrong. She felt a warmth inside her when the touch of two hands, one on each shoulder, caught her off-guard. The soft and delicate touch could only be from Usagi.

"If Ami-chan believes that there is something wrong, then I believe her as well!" Usagi's words made Ami a little less desperate. "And we all have seen some of our enemies mind controlling or even possessing our friends! Who's to say that's not the case this time?"

"Well," Mamoru took a moment to lie back and think. "I have been saying things I normally wouldn't." He even spoke about it with Andrus the day before. How could he have forgotten? "And this feeling of unease has followed me since we got here." He sighed, to which was a sign of reconsideration. "Also, I'll always believe in Usako."

"Andrus!" Chibiusa had returned to the bus stop. She fled for a while until she came back to her senses, realizing what was happening: This all could only be one of those witches' fault. Merel supposedly went back to Juuban, but that didn't mean there weren't any other of them there. Melinda, mysterious as she was, could even be one of the witches for all that Chibiusa knew. The way Mamoru acted, the way Andrus acted, the way Chibiusa herself acted: there was something definitely wrong going on.

She called for his name once more, but there was no response. She wondered if he had already left back to Juuban as there was also no trace of him. As she heard footsteps, she turned around with the newfound hope that she would find him, only to be greeted by Usagi, Ami and the others.

"Chibiusa!" Usagi said with surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I was trying to prevent Andrus from leaving." She said, trying not to reveal too much about her intentions, as Melinda was with the rest of the group and she was still a potential witch. "But I might be too late." She had a resentful tone in her voice that no one failed to notice.

"He's gone?" Melinda asked in a haste. Her eyes shone with the implications of his departure. With the demon away, the witches could attack without endangering Ami and the others. If only she could get a hold of Merel or maybe even Annis, she could make her strike and finally get rid of him.

"I'll call his cell phone." Ami promptly dialed his number. When she pressed the phone against her ear a silence followed as if every one of them had just stopped breathing. She tried for minutes, with no response. "He won't answer..." Ami's sadness was almost palpable. Andrus would have no idea about their theory, and how he probably wasn't to blame for what had happened. She wouldn't be able to say sorry for not standing up for him when it was the right time.

"Where is he?!" Chibiusa confronted Melinda, much to the woman's confusion. "You know where uncle-" Chibiusa interrupted herself, hoping no one had caught her slip of tongue. "You know where Andrus is, don't you?!"

"What?" Atropos' heart started beating fast. What could that child be implying?

"Chibiusa!" Usagi scolded the girl. "Melinda was taking a shower when Andrus took off! There is no way she could have known where he went! Right, Melinda?"

"R...Right!" She felt like a liar as she stared at Usagi's smile. That girl defended her with an open heart even though she had no clue of any of her dark secrets. Atropos had this feeling that Usagi would defend her the same way even if she knew all about her.

"Then why were you smiling when I said that he was gone?!" It was just a glimpse of a smile that Chibiusa saw. But that soft smile, along with the sudden disappearance of her friend, left the girl frustrated, as well as infuriated.

"It wasn't a smile!" Atropos was on the defensive. The girls' stares didn't make it easier for her. "Don't go assuming things about me!"

"I'm sorry, Melinda," Ami took a deep breath. Her mind was racing as she started to put up a plan of action. "I think I'm going back to Juuban."

"We're going as well!" Mamoru spoke next. He was also feeling remorseful and ashamed of what had happened between him and Andrus. "We have to find Andrus as soon as possible and let him know that it wasn't his fault!"

"What do you mean?" Atropos tagged along when she found out something happened between Andrus and Mamoru, as it appeared that it could benefit her cause, but, up until that moment, she wasn't aware of what truly happened. "I thought you two had a really bad fight."

"We think Andrus might not have been fully in control of his emotions." When Rei said those words, Atropos' heart skipped a beat. "Cassandra!" She thought. The manipulative witch must have taken action and created the perfect situation to capture the boy. Now, Atropos really needed to go back to Juuban.

"Then I'll go back as well!" Melinda tried to sound as cooperative as she could. She couldn't let this chance go to waste. If she could kill the demon before those girls discovered anything about the witches and their plot, it would definitely spare them a lot of suffering. "I just have to find Jennifer, the friend that was with me earlier, and let her know!"

"Are you sure?" Ami spoke concerned. She didn't want to burden her friend with her problems.

"Yes!" Atropos was determined. "After all, it won't be as fun without you guys around! And maybe I can help you as well!" More lies. She told herself it was necessary, but it didn't make her feel any better about it. "You can go on the front, I'll meet you guys there after I make my arrangements!"

They all went back to the hostel in a hurry. They needed to pack their bags as soon as possible to take the next bus home. Only Chibiusa stayed behind.

"I'm all packed!" Makoto was the first to finish. Rei and Ami followed right after. Only Minako and Usagi were left. Ami decided to call Andrus one more time while Rei and Makoto helped the other two. To her surprise, the heavy metal tune that served as his ringtone could be heard in the hallway. Her hands trembled as the sound got closer. A huge smile opened on her face with anticipation, before Chibiusa stormed the room with a backpack in her hand. Andrus' backpack.

"Chibiusa?!" Ami recognized the bag immediately. "Where did you find this?"

"Soon after you guys left, the bus to Juuban arrived." She said in a serious tone. "The bus that comes once every hour."

"Andrus couldn't have taken the bus home!" Ami realized. There wasn't enough time for him to get on the bus as he had left the hostel for a little more than forty minutes back. She knelt with the backpack on her hands, embracing it while trying to figure out what could have happened. "Andrus...where are you?" She mumbled.

"I have something to tell you!" Chibiusa stepped on the mattress of one of the beds in the room. "I think I know what happened to Andrus!"

 _Next: Dreammare_


	6. 06 - Dreammare

**06 – Dreammare**

His head was aching. His vision was blurred. He barely remembered anything that happened. He was hurt. Body, psyche, and soul were devastated. The last moments of consciousness were coming back to him. The Witch. The fight against Mamoru. It was her fault.

When his vision and his mind cleared he found himself with his wrists tied above his head, suspended from a hook. He realized his ankles were also tied, and he had no clothes on. A gag on his mouth prevented him from speaking.

His surroundings were somewhat familiar: he was trapped inside what it looked like a basement, with wooden barrels next to a wall. There was a big bowl below his feet, but he had no idea what it was for. Something felt odd. The feeling of _déjà vu_ made him uneasy. Hearing the creak of a door and steps on a ladder, the boy prepared for what was to come.

"So the demon awakens" A blonde woman dressed in what Andrus recognized as some sort of corrupted Sailor Soldier battle suit greeted the boy. She walked slowly towards him with a pleased smile upon her face. "Nice seeing you again, Andrus!"

His muffled complaints were ignored by the woman. She knew his name and she talked as if she actually knew him, but Andrus had no idea who she was or why he was her prisoner.

"You must be wondering: 'Why do I have a gag on this time?' Well," She crossed his chest with her fingers, going through his scars. "I won't repeat the mistakes from last time, boy. Which is why I also tied your legs together." She halted on the mysterious scar on his abdomen. "They said I should wait for Atropos, but I think I'll start without her, you know..." She drew a dagger from a sheath on her waist, stabbing him on the same point of the scar. He tried to scream but the gag prevented him from making too much noise. He was starting to remember.

"The Prince's Alley..." That name echoed on his mind, as he tried to recover his breath. He still wasn't able to remember it all, but there was this alley in Brazil in which he accidentally ended up with a friend. They got separated and he was captured by a witch. She tortured him. She needed his blood to break away from the alley's spell. "What was her name?" He tried to remember. "Agnes?"

"Oh!" The witch slowly removed the blade from the boy's abdomen, letting him bleed. The blood ran through his body, dripping on the bowl below him. "I know that look." She removed his gag taking a lot of care. She was scared of him, for some reason he just couldn't remember. "You're starting to remember, aren't you?"

"Beco do Príncipe!" He said in Portuguese, the name of the cryptic alley he entered with Gustavo, one of the apprentices in the Brazilian dojo he used to teach. "This is the Prince's Alley!"

"That's right." She spoke with bliss. Torturing the boy was more fun if he could scream and try to spout his banters, after all.

"And you are Agnes..."

"Annis, honey." She rose the dagger to her lips, licking the blood from the blade. "Agnes was the name I gave you when you entered my shop."

"But if this is the Prince's Alley, does that mean we are in Brazil?"

"No, silly!" She laughed, spinning the knife in her hands, stabbing him once more, now to the other side of his abdomen. She rejoiced with his agonizing cry. "The alley exists on a different plane due to the spells used to create it, so it's linked to various countries and places. That's why not many people can find it! And it's also the reason people who do find it forget about it right away!"

"Except for Gustavo." Andrus thought. His head was spinning after the two blows he received. Gustavo fought against the alley's spell for a whole day before being able to enter. "So, what's your plan?" He tried to sound brave, but the wounds just added to his vulnerability. "Spill my blood so you can escape the alley?"

"Oh, I don't need you anymore!" She smiled, running the back side of the blade across his belly, linking the two wounds by a string of blood. "The other witches already set me free to roam." She rose the dagger once more, preparing a new blow. "I'm doing this just for fun, demon!" Annis tried to pierce him once more, but her hand was grabbed by Merel, the green witch. Cassandra, the witch that had captured Andrus, was also there.

"Atropos should be here for this!" She said with a condemning voice. "After all he did to her, she deserves to be here for when he dies, Annis!"

"You're no fun!" Annis sheathed the knife.

"What do you mean?!" Andrus struggled, trying to set him free. A new witch had just arrived and he knew he needed to get out of there. "Why do you keep calling me a demon?"

"Oh, Andrus!" Annis poked his nose, teasing him. "Don't you know why I let you go the last time?" A chill ran down the boy's spine as if he knew what she was about to say. "The evil I saw in you was so great that I was actually scared of what your blood could do. When I found out you were a demon, it all made sense." The witches went up the stairs, leaving the basement.

Cassandra looked at the boy one last time before leaving. Annis' words had destroyed him, causing a bigger damage than her dagger could ever do. Andrus was left all alone with that disturbing information, rustling with those words in despair. He just couldn't believe what he had heard. It couldn't be true.

"So you were attacked by a witch yesterday?!" Usagi was shocked. Never would she imagine something like that had happened to her future child. "Are you alright?"

"I'm standing right here, unharmed, you do see that, right?" Chibiusa crossed her arms, staring at Usagi.

"Geez, sorry if I'm worried about you!"

"I'm sorry!" Chibiusa apologized, realizing that she had a lot of tension built up until that moment. "But the witch that attacked me, Haruka and Michiru probably isn't working alone. She said she was going back to Juuban, but some of her allies could have been the one responsible for capturing Andrus!"

"Why didn't you tell us anything?" The moment Chibiusa knew would come had just arrived: Ami's interrogatory, and it was sharp as expected. "You have been acting weird for some time, Chibiusa-chan!"

"I couldn't tell you about the witches while Melinda was around!" Chibiusa had her excuse at the tip of her tongue. She knew it the moment she decided it was time to tell them.

"And why is that?"

"Because she might be one of them!" Her announcement caught every one of them off-guard. They had spent most of the day before in Melinda's company, and there was never any suspicion that she could be anything different from themselves. Except for Ami. Hearing those words triggered her train of thoughts. All the mystery surrounding the young girl could be explained if she was, indeed, a witch.

"It can't be!" Usagi's words were faint. She didn't want to believe in Chibiusa's suspicions. Melinda was their friend, and nothing could change it. Ami, on the other hand, was already running through every possibility concerning that matter. She dropped Andrus' bag and ran out of the room. Rei was the first to react, following her closely. Uncharacteristic to Ami, without even knocking she opened Melinda's door and entered her room.

"She is not here." Ami looked around. Melinda's bag was packed, but there was no sign of the young woman.

"What should we do?" Rei was also bothered by the turn of events. The negative energy she had been channeling was all over the room, asphyxiating the shrine maiden.

"Melinda's absence could be due to her trying to find Jennifer, her friend that I met earlier." Ami was overwhelmed and confused. She couldn't make her mind even though the pieces of evidence laid right before her eyes. "Or maybe she is really a witch. Rei, I don't know what to think of this! Should we go back to Juuban or should we wait to see what is her deal?" She couldn't get a hold of herself, trembling as she started crying.

"Ami-chan," Rei embraced her friend, who sobbed uncontrolled. "We shouldn't jump to conclusions! You have to calm down and make a decision!" Ami rose her head, glaring back at Rei's determined gaze. She was right. It was time to make the decision.

"We have to go back to Juuban." She sighed as she regained control. "Chibiusa said that the witch that attacked her was going back as well, and whether Melinda is her ally or not, that's our best lead to rescue Andrus."

Rei smiled as she saw her friend coming back to her usual self. It was almost as if she could see all the cogs and gears turning in Ami's mind. In moments like that, Rei always thought how shameful it was that Ami didn't believe in herself as much as her friends did. Usagi was their heart, Minako was their leader, but Ami was their brain, and they would be lost without her.

Atropos arrived at the Prince's Alley in no time. All it took was a simple spell and the next moment she was by the mystical street's entrance. She hurried to the old pub by the end of the lane, guiding herself by its sign that read 'Salisbury' in bold wooden letters. "Where is he?" The young witch asked as she entered the tavern.

"Hello, Atropos!" Cassandra greeted her colleague, not bothered by her lack of etiquette. "You and Merel were taking too long, so I captured your demon. I hope you don't mind!"

"Oh, Cassandra!" Atropos walked towards the witch with manipulative powers. She didn't try to hide her anxiety as she spoke. It was about time. Time for her vengeance, time to kill the demon before Ami and the others could have any clue to what happened to him. "I don't mind at all! I should thank you for doing it!"

It was weird, she thought. She was actually dreading what she was about to do. Killing the boy was a one-way street. If she actually went through with it, she knew it would be impossible to talk to the girls ever again. She also could never wash away the blood from her hands. Despite being a witch just like Annis, she hadn't actually killed anyone before.

"Your _mommy_ didn't let me play with him!" Annis was sitting by the corner of the pub. She had a frustrated look upon her face and it was obvious to Atropos what had happened. "Now that you are here, I want to see him dead." Atropos had already realized how sadistic Annis could be, but the way she said those words sent a shiver down her spine. "Here." With a smile, Annis took her dagger from the sheath on her hips and handed it to Atropos. Spiteful, resentful, malicious: Annis was far more dangerous than Atropos could have imagined. "Please do the honors, my friend."

She took the blade and stepped inside the basement. Followed by her fellow witches, Atropos slowly descended the stairs. Andrus was hanging by his wrists, tied above his head. He bled from wounds that Atropos knew were from Annis' blade. He swung back and forth in a pendulum movement. The boy was probably struggling to release himself moments before they entered. Atropos gazed upon the unconscious boy's body as she gripped her fingers tight around the dagger's hilt.

Atropos gulped as the boy rose his head, facing her directly. "Melinda?" He wasn't supposed to see her true face behind the spell that brought her battle suit upon her, but as they stared at each other eyes, a nostalgic feeling got to the boy. She gritted her teeth, preparing for a blow directly to his chest.

He sighed, preparing for the attack. "Do you think Ami-chan would be okay with this?" He managed to speak even though he had barely any strength left.

"Shut up!"

"I know what I have done to deserve being killed," Andrus sported a defeated smile that intrigued the witch. "But I don't know what I did to you so you would want to kill me!"

"Liar!" She stepped back, angered by his words. "You can fool Ami, you can fool anyone else, but I have seen it with my own eyes! So don't you dare lie to me!"

"He is not lying!" It was Merel's voice whispered to her ear. She had just arrived at the basement and stood close to Atropos. The younger witch was startled by her presence, easing up as she saw her friend beside her.

"What do you mean?" She stared at Merel unable to believe those words. Atropos easily became to trust her friend even though they barely knew each other, so it hurt to hear Merel questioning her. "I know what I saw, Merel!" Flashes of her family's death, her friends, her city, plagued her mind, and Merel shared those visions as she read the witch's thoughts.

"I know as well, my friend!" The look upon the green witch's face tore apart Atropos' defenses. At that moment Atropos understood the real reason why Merel would prevent herself from reading minds all the time: All the pain, all the sorrow, it affected her just as much as it did to the owner of those thoughts. Both of them were on the verge of tears. "But I've seen through this boy's sins, and something is amiss!"

Merel took the dagger from Atropos' hand, to which Annis noticed and stared at them with a disapproval look. She was displeased as the execution of the demon was about to be postponed once again. "What are you two doing?" She said, with a snark on her voice.

"I think it might be too premature to kill the boy just yet!" Merel spoke. Both Annis and Atropos could sense the hesitation as she tried to find an excuse not to murder Andrus. She had to think fast. She believed wholeheartedly in Atropos, so that's why she needed to be sure her friend wouldn't make a terrible mistake. One of the boy's thoughts caught her attention, giving her the answer she was looking for. "Say that again, Andrus!"

"What?" Andrus was confused. He blessed the moment the green witch halted Melinda's attack as it was sure to be the end for him. He didn't want to die, especially not that way. Especially not being able to set things right between him and Ami. That green witch might have just had bought him some time until the Sailor Soldiers came to his rescue.

"Yes! That thought!" Merel's smile widened as she picked up his thoughts once again. "You were thinking about being rescued by the Sailor Soldiers! Why would they come to your rescue?"

"He was saved by them once before." Atropos said without giving much interest to their enemies. After all she heard about the Sailor Soldiers from Ami, Usagi, and the others, she wanted to avoid killing them.

"No, there's more to this story!" Merel held his chin, forcing the boy to stare into her entrancing gaze. "He fought beside them!" That information reminded Atropos of what Ami said, that they almost lost him that time. "That's why he firmly believes they will come to his rescue!"

"We can use him..." Cassandra was the one speaking now. Having their dreaded enemy coming to fight in the witches' territory would be an advantage they shouldn't pass up.

"I wonder," Merel reached deeper inside his mind. "Do you know who the Sailor Soldiers really are?" Andrus gasped and it was all the confirmation the green witch needed. "Who are they?" He could sense her wandering through his thoughts. Merel could see him fighting against someone named Sine. He was trying not to think about his fight alongside Ami.

She caught a glimpse of a name. It shook her for a second. Ami was Andrus' girlfriend, and Atropos treasured new friend. Next, she caught regret on the boy's mind for thinking about that name. Could it be true?

"A betrayal?" Merel was disturbed by the boy's thoughts. "You betrayed your girlfriend! You lied to her!" Atropos got closer as she heard Merel, in a trance, spouting those words. "Knockin' Down Hesitation?!"

"Merel?" Atropos tried to reach her friend, to no avail. In a second, Merel was back to her normal self, flustered and clearly angered with the boy.

"You watched the video from her high-school presentation when she specifically asked you not to?" Usagi once told Andrus that she, along with Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako, danced and sang for the Juuban High School festival on their first year. Ami made him promise not to watch any video Usagi might hand him of the performance, but, apparently, he broke that promise.

"Oh, you saw that?" Andrus smirked, happy to know he was able to put up some resistance to Merel's mind reading if he let his mind wander through silly thoughts. "I feel bad for watching it, but wasn't she adorably cute dancing around and singing with her friends?"

"Stop messing around with me!" She held his face with both hands. He could see in her eyes that she was going to be more serious after his resistance. " _Just you fall in love with somebody?_ " She repeated without giving a thought. " _Search for a chance and rush to the mark?"_

"Yeah, that song gets stuck to your head pretty easily, doesn't it?" Another victory for him, as he blocked her way inside his mind with the repetition of a piece of the song's lyrics that he remembered Ami singing in the video.

"ENOUGH!" Merel's eyes shone in a deep green light, breaking his resistance. She was able to see it all. He was attacked by some of his classmates and had to stand up for himself, receiving unwanted attention and a bad reputation. Ami tried to help him. Merel was marveled by Ami and Usagi's kind nature, wanting to rescue a former delinquent. Andrus got a haircut, trying to reshape his image to the eyes of his peers. "What a naive kid!" The witch wondered as she saw him talking about it with Ami. Merel witnessed him using his powers to enter the Dream Realm with Ami, as they tried to rescue one of the students, victim of the one named Sine. "A Dream Walker..." Merel knew little about the power Andrus held other than what she had read of it. She thought of how that ability could be related to Atropos thinking that Andrus was a demon, if there were any relation at all.

Andrus was able to feel Merel's presence going through each of his memories. The fight against Chenelle was the moment Ami revealed herself to be Sailor Mercury. Saving him from the grasps of the Dream Reaper. Merel was about to witness that same moment.

Merel stood at what appeared to be a swamp with washed out colors. She saw Ami who watched the boy struggling under water, trying to gasp for air, as a woman in a blue dress gazed menacingly upon them. _"I don't know how you kids got here, but no one makes a fool out of Chenelle, demon guard of the Dream Reapers."_

" _Let him go!"_ Ami said. Sakurai, Ami and Andrus' classmate was also there but was so afraid that she couldn't even look at the villainous , on the other hand, stood tall and determined against a monster that was out of any normal human's league.

" _And what if I don't?"_ Chenelle spoke, jesting, crossing her arms at chest height. A blue light appeared from Ami's hand, and at that moment Merel was pushed away from Andrus' mind.

Merel saw his eyes twisting as they went completely blank. Andrus' powers wouldn't allow him to actually physically cross to the Dream Realm. Unlike the Sailor Soldiers that were able to enter with their physical bodies due to their Sailor Crystal, Andrus could only send an avatar to the Dreamworld. It was a desperate measure, but it managed to clear his mind to Merel's reading.

"Sneaky Walker!" She clicked her tongue, frustrated that he managed to find a way to escape her. His body swung as he induced himself to sleep as his mind entered the Dream Realm.

"What happened?" Atropos and the other witches were confused as all they saw was both of them staring at each other with intense glares until Andrus passed out unconscious.

"He can enter Dreams." Merel sighed. "He truly isn't some normal human being, Atropos."

"I knew there was something wrong with him!" Annis said. "We should kill him right away!" She started conjuring a spell as she walked towards the young man.

"No!" Merel stood in her way. She was still unsure if Andrus could be the threat Atropos feared, and the discoveries while on his mind were also alarming. Ami was one of the Sailor Soldiers, so what would that mean to Atropos? She already had second thoughts about killing their enemies and knowing one of them was her friend could tear the girl's heart apart. "We need him alive to lure the Sailor Soldiers in!"

"You two are way too soft!" Annis walked away. It angered her to see that the Incantation she was a part of had such weak and pitiful witches. Cassandra was also to be blamed. She was always too kind to others and had a weird policy of not hurting innocents. To Annis, though, it was a war, and innocents being killed was just a side effect of that war.

Merel took Atropos by her hand and also left the basement, then the Salisbury pub. In a few moments, they were both in their civil attire walking through Juuban. Atropos could sense despair on her friend's face and it bothered her immensely since it was the first time it ever happened.

"Merel?" They walked in silence for a while until Atropos couldn't stand any more of it. The green witch's behavior was disturbing. Merel sighed and finally began talking.

"You know by now that I saw the disaster in your mind. The demon."

"I know." She answered sheepishly. She always thought Merel was being really respectful by not bringing it up, even though she had no choice but to read her mind.

"But you see, you didn't tell me _when_ that disaster happened." Atropos bowed down her head. The way Merel said those words meant she was already suspicious of what was happening. It was time for her to come clean.

"You'll do better if you read my mind." Those words caught Merel off-guard. She tried not to intrude, and Atropos was really reserved about it. Both of them were nervous about that situation, as it was a display of intimacy Atropos wasn't known for showing. Merel smiled, seeing how much her friend changed since they have come to know each other. She positioned her hands on Atropos' cheeks, making straight eye contact with her. In a sudden, she was inside the young woman's thoughts.

It was the night of the fire. She could see a younger Atropos running from a collapsing building. She knew the girl was from England, but Merel was having trouble pinpointing the exact location. The architecture was throwing her off, as she had never seen anything like it.

"This is the thirtieth century." Merel was speechless. When she heard those thoughts, she knew Atropos wasn't lying, but it was still a shock for her. "I lived in what you know as England, but by the time I was born, it was actually a part of the Silver Millennium. That is until the demon tore it apart like it was nothing."

The Silver Millennium was the closest to a utopia Merel could ever imagine. Under the rule of Neo-Queen Serenity and King Endymion, with the power of the Silver Crystal, the world was going through its greatest era of peace. So when the monster with crimson hair appeared out of nowhere, it caught all of them by surprise.

Atropos managed to flee the building in the nick of time before it had fully collapsed. She was breathless, fighting her tears as she knelt down to recover from the terrible sight she witnessed. The red-haired man had suddenly burst through the window of her apartment, killing her parents in a ball of flames. She screamed as loud as she could, she pleaded for that demon's mercy, but it was futile. He still had the carbonized bodies of her parents in his hands while he chased her down the aisles of the building. His steps were fierce, and each one of them cracked the floor.

She ran away from him, only able to hear the explosions behind her. The raw power was visible even to the untrained eyes, with orange rays leaking from his body as if they were vaporizing.

In her despair, she entered a dead-end alley, sensing the murderer behind her back. She turned around, seeing him approaching. His eyes burned with carmine fire, and the oppressive energy left his body as if it tried to crush the girl with its mere presence. That was the first time she used her powers, throwing him back with an energy beam. The memories were hurtful for Atropos, and, by association, for Merel as well. They were back at the present, outside Atropos' mind.

"So that's why you're the witch of time! You're a time traveler!"

"It was a few years after Crystal Tokyo, the capital of the Silver Millennium was attacked and nearly destroyed." She continued telling her story. "So, our so-called defenders, the Sailor Soldiers, were nowhere to be seen to stop the demon!" There were anger and grudge in her tone. She blamed the Moon Soldiers and their Queen for being unable, even uninterested, in saving them. "After he destroyed everything, I activated my powers for the first time. It was soon after that I was met by Hecate, who claimed to be one of the ancient witches. One of the few witches that still existed at that time."

"I never heard of her." Merel pondered as Atropos moved on. A witch could be born just now and be considered ancient in the thirtieth century, after all.

"She taught me how to use my powers, and they brought me here. So that's why I know I have to kill Andrus Homura!"

"And why is that?"

"Because my powers brought me here, to this time and place, to meet him, and since then I'm not able to use my powers to travel in time anymore."

"Oh!" The determination and confidence that Atropos sported were truly unnerving for Merel. There was not a single doubt on the young witch's mind when it came to that demon. "So that means..."

"It means I'm stuck here until I do what I have to do! What my powers brought me to! They brought me here and won't let me leave until I end this demon, once and for all!"

"But he didn't do anything wrong yet. Is it okay to kill a boy who is supposed to become a demon in the future?"

"Ever since I met Ami and him I've been struggling with this thought." Atropos revealed for the first time a feeling buried within her. It was something that made her angry every time she gave thought to. The first time she felt compassion for her sworn enemy was when she saw how weak he was, how human he seemed to be, and it nauseated her.

"Are you willing to live on with the murder of someone who might be innocent?"

Atropos just stared at Merel with confusion and conflict in her eyes. Tears were forming uncontrolled and rolled down her face. She belted a loud cry as she didn't know what to do, how to act, how to make everything right. She had been strong for way too long. She had endured that sorrow all by herself for an inconceivable amount of time. Merel felt impotent as all she could do was embrace her friend and hope the tears would wash away her pain.

It had been less than an hour since Ami and the others arrived at Juuban. They headed straight to the Hikawa shrine where they articulated a plan to find their friend. Rei was the first one to leave the group as she went to the ritual fire to try and channel some energy or signal that seemed out of place. Ami hooked up her supercomputer, a small device built with the ancient and powerful Moon Kingdom technology to search for anything unusual.

"Okay!" Usagi said with energy as she saw Ami and Rei getting ready. The two soldier's determination was contagious. "Let's save our friend!" Chibiusa watched closely as all of them mustered their spirits to help Andrus. They were known as the legendary Sailor Soldiers in her time, after all, and it was at those moments she could see what that meant.

They didn't have a clue of where the boy could be, but they also wouldn't let that stop them. Chibiusa went together with Makoto and Minako to roam the city and see if they could find any clue. Mamoru and Usagi took a different route so they could cover more ground. No one was supposed to go alone as the witches might attack at any given moment. Ami and Rei would stay behind and use their special skills to try and find their friend.

"I'm feeling really bad." Mamoru spoke out of the blue, surprising Usagi, as they walked through the business district of Juuban. "I should have known that something was wrong!"

She knew he waited for them to be alone before speaking his mind. It was rare the times Mamoru could show any weakness towards her, as he saw it was his duty to protect Usagi, his princess, his Serenity. "Mamo-chan," The soothing sound of her voice, and the soft touch of her hand on his arm calmed him down almost immediately. "There was no way for any of us to know!"

"He was left behind because of me, Usagi!"

"Mamoru!" She embraced him with a tight hug. It pained her deeply seeing her boyfriend so lost in his guilt. "You are a good person even if you did something you are ashamed of! Nothing will ever change that!"

"Usa!" Mamoru held her in his arms, grateful for those words. He was also really surprised for seeing that crybaby acting so mature towards him. In a normal situation, it was him that would say those words to try and calm her down. "You've grown!"

They both smiled and shared a tender kiss. "Does that mean we don't have to wait till we both graduate to get married?"

"This has nothing to do with that!" He laughed as he saw genuine annoyance on her face. The child-like Usagi was back to her tantrums just as easy as she gave way to the mature counselor a mere moment before.

"You're too mean, Mamo-chan!" She puffed, pretending to be offended as they resumed their search. Both of them suddenly noticed some commotion happening around a crossing between two busy avenues. A woman stood out as she appeared to be flying. With purple hair and wearing a dark cloak, the beautiful woman caught the couple's attention as she seemed to be performing magic tricks to entertain the crowd that gathered around her.

The woman waved her hands, crossing them and gesturing them as if they were the wings of a bird. Soon after, a bird appeared in front of her, flying away to the awe of the crowd, turning into a mauve flame that faded into the sky.

"For my next trick," She said as she raised her hands to gather the attention of everyone that watched. "I'll summon a monster of legend!" The crowd laughed and chanted as they were oblivious to the seriousness of those words. The witch let a soft laugh as she gathered energy for her conjuring. "Come forth! Minotaur!" The monster was almost three meters tall. Silence reigned for a single moment before the people surrounding the witch could realize the monster was real and was about to attack.

The people fled, and Circe, the witch with purple hair, laughed at their desperation and fear. She saw their numbers quickly diminish, giving way to a man in a tuxedo, with top hat and a mask covering his face. By his side, a young woman that Circe recognized as a Sailor Scout stood with an angry gaze. The witch, if only for a moment, felt intimidated by that stare.

"My, my! I knew you would find me here!" She brushed off that strange feeling of unease with her banter.

"Where is our friend?!" Sailor Moon asked as she readied herself for the battle. Usagi was a pacifist at heart but she also had enough experience by that point to understand there was a time that a fight was the best course of action. "Where is Andrus?"

"Ah, the demon!" Circe laughed as she hovered beside the massive monster that stood still, waiting for an order. The beast appeared to be something out of a book, as an unreal existence that stood out of place. "If you can beat my little pet, maybe I, Circe, will tell you where to find him!"

Makoto, Minako, and Chibiusa walked across Juuban's shopping district while they searched for anything out of the extraordinary. The child could sense the tensions were high after all the commotion at the beach. The witches had Andrus, and Chibiusa's plans could all go to waste if something happened to him.

"Are you sure you told us all that you know, Chibiusa?" Makoto asked the child, who seemed startled and bothered as soon as she heard those words. She didn't expect to go much longer without having to explain herself, but she also expected the interrogatory would continue after the search was done.

"Mako-chan," Chibiusa sighed. "I don't know anything about those witches, or why would they want to attack Andrus. I told you all that I know: they are our enemies, and they consider us a threat to their existence! We should be careful of the green witch, though, she can read minds."

"The one that attacked you, right?" Makoto could be harsh when she needed, but she could also be the kindest of them all whenever she saw fit. With a touch of her hand on her shoulder, Chibiusa felt more at ease, knowing that Sailor Jupiter would stand by her side.

"Kino-senpai!" Chibiusa saw the dark-haired boy approaching. She reminded of their meeting at the station. The same anxiety she could perceive in Jinchuu at that moment was being shown once again this time. She wondered about the "mixed feelings" Minako teased that caused such discomfort to Makoto. "I thought you guys left to the beach!"

"Jinchuu!" She cursed that their second meeting after so long had to be in such an unpleasant time. "What's that on your neck?" She tried to divert his attention. Noticing the boy wore a red thin scarf around his neck like a tie, even though it wasn't cold enough for one, she asked him so he might let go of his suspicions.

"Oh." He shyly took his hand to the scarf, zipping his jacket up and covering most of it. "It's silly..."

"Come on, tell me!"

"When we were younger we used to watch a show where the heroes all wore scarves to show they are fighting for justice and mankind." He sighed, wondering how childish he was sounding. "I guess it's something to keep me motivated."

"I think it suits you!" Makoto tried to sound energetic as Jinchuu stared at her with a worried gaze. She unzipped his jacket up to his belly height as she thought of how much he had changed. "But a hero's jacket needs to be open to console anyone that need a chest to cry on."

"What's wrong?" She looked up to him when he said those words. It was a little amusing every time she noticed he was taller than her.

"It's nothing to worry about, Jinchuu." It was becoming harder to dismiss him the more he was around her. "I need to be going."

"Come on, tell me!" He repeated her words, although his speech was more sullen.

"Our friend, Andrus, disappeared!" Maybe it was better to tell him right out the bat, so he would understand why she wouldn't give him more attention. "I'm sorry, we need to-"

"I'll help!" He didn't even let her finish. "I'll help you find your friend!"

"Jinchuu..." He had grown, Makoto thought. She remembered how he would cry over other students bullying him, and how she always came to defend him. And there he was: determined to help, even though he was unaware of the dangers surrounding him. "I can't let you do that!"

"Why?!" He held to her arm, just like the day before when he met her, unable to understand.

"It won't be safe." She released herself from his grasp. In the glimpse of the moment that followed she had to evade a roundhouse kick from the boy with a swift leap backwards. "What are you doing?"

"I'll show you how strong I've got!" He assumed a fighting stance, much to Makoto's surprise. "I'll show you I can be of help! I'll show you I can be a hero!" Minako and Chibiusa watched astonished as the scene unfolded before their eyes. None of them could actually see the red-headed witch that watched the ruckus from afar, but even then they knew it could be one of their doings that was causing this.

Makoto gritted her teeth as she decided it would be better to take Jinchuu out of commission before they went searching for Andrus. His safety depended on that. For a moment, Chibiusa got a hold of the mind reading witch that called herself Merel walking away. Their eyes met. The wheels of fate moved one step closer to the eventful match between the Sailor Soldiers and the Witches.

 _Next: Choices_


End file.
